Living with the Tsukiyomis
by Angel Bunnies
Summary: Amu's parents have decided to move and while they look for a new house, Amu and her family will be staying at the Tsukiyomis' house. Amu meets Ikuto and immediately decides she doesn't like him. Ikuto falls in love with Amu...but can he get Amu to like him? Amuto. AU.
1. Meet the Tsukiyomis

CHAPTER 1

(AMU POV)

"We're moving?" I asked my parents.

"Yes. While we look for a new house, you will be staying at one of our good friends' house. They have a daughter and a son not too much older than you. I'm sure you'll love it there." My mom assured me.

"And you'll get to go to a brand new school and make new friends!" My dad added.

I couldn't believe this. There was nothing wrong with our current house. Though the switching schools part I didn't really mind since it was always the same at every school I went too. Everyone thought I was "cool and spicy" thanks to my outer character and I had a lot of fan boys, but I never really had a friend, so there wasn't really a reason to stay at my current school. And there wasn't really a reason to stay at my current house, either.

"Aren't you happy?" My mom asked me.

"Yes." I said.

I wasn't really happy. It was more like I didn't care. Although I found myself wondering what the Tsukiyomis would be like. Would they be nice?

"We already put everything we need in the moving truck, so we can leave now." My dad said, and my parents, Ami and I got into the car and we drove off. I looked out the window at our old house, knowing I would never see it again.

Ami was whining about how she didn't want to leave at first, but later she got over it and kept on asking, "Are we there yet?" and my parents kept on saying, "We're almost there, Ami." I just stared out the window the whole car ride.

"Yay, we're there!" Ami announced when we parked the car.

We parked in front of a huge house that I assumed was the Tsukiyomis'. It wasn't exactly a mansion, but it was pretty big. When we got there, the Tsukiyomis (I assumed it was them) were already waiting outside.

"Nice to see you again!" A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and lavender eyes hugged my mom.

"They were friends in high school," My dad explained.

"Nice to meet you, Amu and Ami!" The woman shook my hand and then Ami's. "My name is Souko Tsukiyomi; this is my husband Aruto, my daughter Utau, and my son Ikuto."

"Hello, Amu and Ami." Aruto said to us and shook our hands. He had blue hair and deep blue eyes.

"Hi." Utau said. She looked more like her mom, with the same blonde hair and purple eyes, only her hair was longer, a little past her waist and her eyes were striking purple, not light lavender.

"Where is Ikuto now?" Aruto sighed. "Ikuto, come here and meet our guests!"

"Fine!" Ikuto called from inside the house and moments later he was outside with us. "Yo." He said to me and Ami. Ikuto looked more like his father, with the same dark blue hair and piercing blue eyes. He looked a little older than Utau and stood there looking bored.

"Ikuto, be nice!" Utau hit her brother on the shoulder.

"Ow, Utau!" Ikuto rubbed his shoulder.

"Ikuto and Utau will show you to your rooms," Aruto said to Ami and me.

Aruto and Souko showed my parents to their room and then they went down to the living room to chat or something, while Ikuto and Utau took us upstairs to where our rooms would be. Ami got the guest room next to Utau's, while I got the one across from Ami's, which was next to Ikuto's room. I started to unpack my things. I was putting my clothes in my closet when Ikuto walked in.

"What do you want?" I asked rather meanly before I could stop myself.

"Rude." Ikuto smirked, and I felt my cheeks get red, and I quickly looked away. "I can tell that you're blushing." Ikuto told me.

"S-shut up!" I lost my cool for a moment. "I mean, whatever." I added.

"You look like a strawberry when you blush, since you have pink hair and your face gets dark pink." Ikuto didn't shut up.

"No, I don't." I said, and got myself to stop blushing. "And I asked you earlier why you were here." I crossed my arms. I was not going to lose my cool in front of Ikuto, or anyone for that matter.

"Just wanted to stop by." Ikuto said and left the room.

After he left, I took out a pink journal that wrote my name on it in silver glitter and a pen. It was my diary. My parents gave one to me every year on my birthday and I hadn't written in this one yet. I wrote:

Dear Diary,

Today was the day my parents told me we were moving. My parents said we would be vacationing somewhere and told me to pack last night, but it turns out that they lied so Ami wouldn't be upset and we were actually moving. At first, Ami was pretty upset, but she got over it quickly. I don't really care that we moved. We didn't find a house yet, so we'll be staying with the Tsukiyomis (family friends) until we find a house. The parents, Aruto and Souko, are pretty nice. Utau is nice too. She kind of looks like this famous pop star Ami likes. But that pop star has a different last name. The pop star's last name is Hoshina, and Utau's last name is Tsukiyomi. Ikuto…he kind of annoys me. I wonder if he's popular at school. I bet he's the type of person to slack off and not pay attention in class. But I guess I wouldn't know since I just met him. Well, I have school tomorrow, so I should go to bed now.

-Amu

I hid the diary in my closet (so Ami or someone doesn't read it) and climbed into bed. I always felt better after writing in my diary.

* * *

**A/N: I decided to make a new fanfic since someone suggested that I do and I wanted to write an amuto fanfic anyway. I'm not sure if Souko is Ikuto's mom's real name, but I think it is. And also, I'm making Ikuto only three years older than Amu in this story. (Amu is 13, Utau is 14, and Ikuto is 16). Please review and thanks for reading! XD**


	2. First Day at Seiyo

~CHAPTER 2~

**(AMU POV)**

_Rringgg! Rringgg! _My alarm rang.

I turned off my alarm and got ready for school. I brushed my teeth, showered, and was about to eat breakfast. When I walked past Ikuto's room the door was open and I could see Ikuto…who was still sleeping. How can he still be sleeping? It's already 7:40 and school starts in twenty minutes! I should wake him up so he's not late…

"Wake up!" I gently shook Ikuto, but he didn't budge. "Get up!" I shook him harder this time but he still didn't move. He must be a heavy sleeper. I shoved him this time and he shook slightly but then he went back to sleep.

"WAKE UP ALREADY!" I screamed in his ear and pushed him off the bed.

"Oh, good morning Amu." Ikuto said pleasantly as if I had not yelled in his ear and shoved him off of his bed.

"It's 7:45. School starts in fifteen minutes and you're not even out of bed yet." I told him.

"So? I can sleep for a few more minutes." Ikuto shrugged like this was no big deal.

"Fine, whatever. Do what you want." I left the room angrily. I was trying to help and he wasn't listening. How rude. I don't like Ikuto. How could he get ready for school and walk there in ten minutes? It was impossible. But it's his problem, not mine.

I grabbed a bagel from the kitchen and ate it on my way to school. I was probably going to be late thanks to Ikuto. When I got to the school there was no one there, so I knew I was late. I should go to the office to ask where my classroom is but I don't know where the office is…

"Are you the new student?" Someone asked from behind me.

I turned around to see a girl with two orange pigtails behind me. "Yeah." I answered.

"Yaya's name is Yaya! Let's be friends!" The girl, or Yaya said.

I was surprised. No one had ever come up to me and just asked to be friends even though they don't know me. "I don't know you…" I said.

"Now you do! Are you looking for the office?" Yaya asked happily. She acted like such a little kid. Although it felt nice to make a friend for once.

Yaya showed me where the office was so I could get my schedule and go to my first class.

"What's your name?" Yaya asked.

"Amu." I answered and I went to my class after checking my schedule. When I walked in, the teacher asked me to introduce myself.

"Amu Hinamori." I said with a blank expression which caused everyone to call me "cool and spicy".

"Okay, Himamori-san, I am Nikaidou-sensei and you can sit in between Mashiro-san and Hotori-kun." The teacher told me.

"It's Hinamori." I was irritated.

"Yes, Himamori." Nikaidou-sensei said my name wrong again. Was he doing that on purpose?

I took my seat. I was next a boy who said his name was Tadase and a girl who told me her name was Rima. She didn't seem very friendly and acted like she didn't want to talk to me, but Tadase seemed nice.

"Now, we are going to do a fun project!" Nikaidou announced and the class groaned. "With partners! And for this project people from room 28 will also be here."

"Aren't the people in room 28 in eleventh grade?" A student asked.

"Yes, but the teacher in room 28 said that we could do a project together, even though we're in different grades." Nikaidou explained.

"Why?" Amu inquired.

"Because it's fun!" Nikaidou answered.

Right after he said that another class came in and stood along the walls. Amu noticed that Ikuto was in that class.

"Do we get to pick our partners?" One student asked.

"No, I will pick!" Nikaidou took out a hat which had the names of everyone in both classes in it and told us who our partners were.

"Mashiro-san and Yamamoto-san!" Nikaidou started calling names. "Kirishima-kun and Hotori-kun!"

I tuned out the teacher and stared out the window since I was bored. "Tsukiyomi-kun and Himamori-san!" I looked up when the teacher called my name. I was partners with Ikuto.

The teacher told us to start working on our projects so we did. We had to make three different graphs of the information listed on a paper. It seemed easy enough.

"So you're my partner, Amu." Ikuto said.

"I didn't let you call me by my first name." I said.

"I used your first name in the morning." Ikuto pointed out which just annoyed me even more.

"Whatever. Let's just do this project." I said. "Were you late to school this morning?" I added.

"No." Ikuto answered. Weird. How could he not have been late? I left to school before him and I wasn't late. I decided to forget about it and work on the project in silence.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

**(AFTER SCHOOL NORMAL POV)**

After Amu got home from school she went upstairs to her room and took out her diary.

Dear Diary,

Today was my first day at my new school, Seiyo. I was late on my first day, thanks to Ikuto. And I was helping him! I tried to make him not be late for school, but in the end I was the one who was late and he was on time. Not fair. But I did make some new friends. I met a girl named Yaya who introduced me to her friends Rima, Tadase, and Nagihiko. I didn't have any friends in my old school so it feels nice to have friends. I'm actually glad I moved. I 'm going to get some sleep now…what's that loud sound coming from Ikuto's room. It sounds like angry rock music. Whatever, I'm just going to bed now.

-Amu

* * *

**A/N: That's chapter 2. Please review and happy New Year! :D**


	3. Spying on Amu

~CHAPTER 3~

**(AMU POV)**

"RA RA RAAWW!" I heard some strange shouting noises coming from outside my room. I tried to ignore the sounds and fall back asleep but it was hard with that shouting. I could tell it was coming from Ikuto's room. I wonder that exactly is going on there. I closed the door in my room so the yelling would be quieter and then quickly went back into my bed. I was about to fall asleep for real after a few minutes but then I heard another scream that was even louder than the other ones and I couldn't stand it anymore. I didn't want to get up, but I did get up and then I marched straight into Ikuto's room.

"What is going on?" I rubbed my eyes sleepily.

"I'm just listening to some music," Ikuto said calmly, a stereo next to him that was the cause of the terrible screaming. How can he call that music? It's just a bunch of screaming and shouting and loud noises. And he should be sleeping. No wonder he wakes up so late in the morning.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked.

"No." Ikuto answered.

"Can you turn off your 'music' so I can get some sleep?" I questioned, making quotation marks with my fingers when I said music. It was obvious that I was irritated.

"Music is supposed to help people fall asleep." Ikuto told me. How can this music help him fall asleep?

"Lullabies help people sleep. Not…_this_!" I said.

"I'll turn down the volume if you want," Ikuto offered and made the sounds a little quieter. But it was still loud.

"It's still lou –" I started to say when Utau burst in. She looked furious. Probably even more furious than how I looked right now.

"How many times have I told you to listen to your stupid songs when I'm not here?!" Utau yelled kind of like how a mother would yell if she's really angry. So I'm not the only one who's agitated right now.

"Sorry, Utau. If I turn it off will you be happy?" Ikuto inquired and to my surprise he actually turned off the stereo before Utau answered his question.

"Yes." Utau glared at him before leaving the room.

Since Ikuto stopped his crazy music I went back to my own room too. Wow, Utau sure can be scary at times. And Ikuto listened to her but not me. I checked my bedside clock. It was 11:47. And I did not want to be late to school again so I crawled into bed and fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

**(AT SCHOOL)**

"Hiya, Amu-chi!" Yaya waved to me and walked over, with Rima and Utau following behind her.

"You know Utau, right?" Rima questioned, and I nodded.

"I'm having a concert today. And I thought you might want to come," Utau said.

"A concert?" I asked.

"Yeah, Utan's famous!" Yaya explained. "Haven't you heard of her?"

"I heard of Utau Hoshina since Ami really likes her songs, but Utau's last name is Tsukiyomi, so…" I trailed off.

"Utau Hoshina is just my stage name. I didn't use my real name or everyone at school might mob me or something," Utau informed me. "So, are you coming?" She added.

"Yeah," I smiled. So she really was that famous singer. I thought she had looked a little like her when I first saw Utau. I had heard of her and I heard Ami singing her songs but I had never actually heard Utau sing before and was looking forward to it.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

**(IKUTO POV)**

"Oh, they're here." I heard Utau say from the living room.

"Okay, let's go." I heard Amu say and then they left the house, closing the door with a soft _thud_.

Today was Utau's concert. I knew this since she had asked me to go and I said I might come if I didn't have plans and I felt like it. I told Utau she can just leave without me since I probably wasn't even coming, but now I have nothing to do. I have the house to myself since my parents and Amu's parents are out somewhere. Normally I would have liked having the house to myself since I could watch TV or something without anyone bothering me, but this time I just felt bored.

I watched through the living room window as the car with Utau and her friends Yaya, Rima, and Amu drove off until I couldn't see them anymore. I suddenly regretted not coming with them. It's not like I have anything else to do and I haven't heard Utau sing in a while so the concert sounds fun now. I decided to go to the concert and watch Utau so I went outside and jumped through the trees towards where Utau was having her concert. I took a shorter route by going through trees, so I got there before the concert started.

"Hey, Amu, who were your friends in your old school?" I heard someone ask curiously. If I'm correct that was Utau's friend Yaya's voice coming from Utau's dressing room. I wondered what they were talking about and I was curious, so I stood at the door which was slightly open and peered through the crack at Utau and her friends. I remembered the saying "curiosity killed the cat." But even if I was catlike I wasn't a real cat so it didn't matter. And who believes those sayings anyway?

"Oh, y–you wouldn't know them." Amu stuttered. She does that a lot. She sounded kind of nervous. Yaya only asked her a question. I wonder why she would be nervous to tell Yaya, Utau, and Rima about her friends in her old school.

"Yeah, but tell us anyway. What are they like?" Utau questioned and Amu looked even more uncomfortable.

"W–well, they were…" Amu paused and Utau told her to go on. "Nice." Amu finished lamely. Why do I get the feeling Amu doesn't want to talk about this?

"We already knew they would be nice." Rima pointed out the obvious.

"I think I know why Amu doesn't want to answer," Utau said and everyone looked at her curiously.

"Why?" Yaya enquired.

"Maybe Amu didn't have any friends." Utau said.

"Amu, is that true?" Rima asked.

"I-it's no big deal, really. People were just afraid to talk to me and –" Amu started to say before Yaya interrupted her.

"Amu-chi was lonely!" Yaya wailed.

"Maybe that's why you seemed kind of mean at first," Rima said.

"You were just as mean," Amu pointed out.

I realized that Amu wasn't that rude, just lonely, which makes sense since if she acts meanly no one would want to be friends with her. She's actually pretty nice if you're friends with her like Utau, Yaya, and Rima are. But she's still mean to me and I probably will never be friends with her.

"The concert is going to start soon so we should leave," Utau, Rima, Amu, and Yaya were going to leave so I decided to leave too before they found out I was eavesdropping. I turned around and bumped into someone. I didn't look to see who I bumped into and instead went into the audience and took a seat.

"You were spying on them?" Kukai took the seat next to me. I guess Utau must have invited him to the concert.

"No," I lied. "Wait, spying on whom?"

"Utau and her friends. I saw you," Kukai admitted.

"If you saw me then why did you even ask? And how did you see me?" I queried.

"I asked someone if they saw you and they said you went to Utau's dressing room. I went there and saw you. You bumped into me, remember?" Kukai explained. "Now the real question is: do you like Amu? As in _like _like?"

"Amu? Why would I like her? We're just friends; actually we're not even friends." I answered.

"But you were spying on her. And I've seen you looking at her at school before," Kukai reasoned.

"So? That doesn't mean I like her." I said.

"Yes you do. You don't stare at anyone else," Kukai said. He knew me so well. Too well.

"Okay, I like her. And you better not tell her – or anyone else for that matter." I said.

"Don't worry, I won't," Kukai assured me. "Although she doesn't seem to like you."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe because she doesn't like my teasing," I said.

"But I think I can change that and make her like you. I have a plan…" Kukai said and looked around to see if anyone was watching before whispering his plan in my ear.

"Well, that might work…" I said after Kukai had finished telling me his plan to get Amu to like me.

* * *

**A/N: I think this chapter was kind of boring since nothing really happened. But at least I updated quickly and this chapter is longer than my other ones. :P But the next chapter will be better…hopefully. Review and tell me what you think! :DDD**


	4. The EVIL Plan

CHAPTER 4

"Thanks for coming and goodnight, everybody!" With that, Utau exited the stage and everybody stood up to leave.

Ikuto looked beside him expecting to see Kukai but instead he just found an empty seat with Kukai's black jacket in it. He decided to wait in his seat to see if Kukai would come back so the plan would commence. At first, Ikuto wasn't _too_ sure, but now he thinks that the plan could make Amu like him…or at the very least, not hate him as much.

"Hey, Ikuto, I found two people," Kukai came over to Ikuto and handed him a walkie-talkie. When he saw Ikuto's confused expression, he said as if this was obvious, "All great plans involve walkie-talkies."

"Alright," Ikuto mentally rolled his eyes, "now let's go."

Kukai grabbed a black mask from his pocket and put it on him, and he also put on the black jacket he had left in his seat so he looked somewhat like a spy. Ikuto resisted the urge to roll his eyes again and went to where he was supposed to stand, outside the entrance of the auditorium where Utau had performed. There were two kids standing outside already, but they acted as if they hadn't noticed Ikuto yet and just stood there.

"Black Jacket to Kitty Cat. Utau and her buddies are on their way outside. Commence the plan. Over." Kukai said on his walkie-talkie.

"Um…Kitty Cat to Black Jacket, I guess," Ikuto mentally rolled his eyes for the third time that day, "I'll commence the plan. Over."

Ikuto stuffed the walkie-talkie in his pocket and coughed loudly, so the two kids standing outside heard him and nodded which meant they heard him.

"Hey, you, give me that money." The taller kid said, and snatched the twenty-dollar bill the other kid was holding out of his hand before the smaller kid could say or do anything.

"But I need that money to buy this game I wanted!" The kid whose money had been stolen cried and tried to grab the money from the taller person's hand but the taller person held it high above his head so he couldn't reach it.

"Too bad. There was something I wanted to buy, too." The bully said.

"Stop right there!" Ikuto said and the two kids stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Ikuto saw Amu and her friends from the corner of his eye stop a few feet away from the entrance and also look at him, probably wondering what was going on.

"What do you want?" The bully glared, while the smaller kid didn't say anything.

"You give that kid his money back right now." Ikuto commanded and glared at the bully.

"Fine, whatever." The bully gave up and gave the smaller kid his money.

"Now go away and leave him alone." Ikuto said and the bully obeyed. The other kid also left and Kukai approached Ikuto, without his mask on, though. Ikuto looked behind him to see Amu, Yaya, Utau, and Rima looking surprised and then they got into Utau's limo.

"I think it worked," Ikuto said. He was pretty sure Utau and her friends had left by now.

"What did I tell you?" Kukai questioned. "I knew it would work."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I think I dropped my earring at the entrance." Amu told Utau.

"Okay, hurry up and get it." Utau said and told the driver to wait a minute.

"Okay." Amu got out of the limo and went to the entrance, where she found one of her black X earrings lying on the ground. She put it back on and was about to get back in the car when she saw Ikuto walk around the corner.

_He is going back home,_ Amu thought. _So he could come with us in the limo._

"Utau?" Amu inquired as she made her way back to the limo. "Should I go ask Ikuto if he wants to come with us since we're going to the same place?"

"Sure, just hurry up." Utau replied.

"I will," Amu promised and rounded the corner to where Ikuto was. She was about to ask Ikuto if he wanted to come with her to the limo when she noticed him talking to the two boys she saw earlier. Amu remembered how Ikuto had told the bully to leave the other kid alone.

_Ikuto isn't that bad after all_, Amu found herself thinking. _He did help that kid, even though he doesn't even know him._

"Here you go," Ikuto said and slapped a twenty-dollar bill in…the bully's hand? "You keep the twenty I gave you earlier." Ikuto said to the smaller boy.

Amu was confused. Why was Ikuto giving them money? And why had Ikuto given the smaller boy the twenty-dollar bill he had before? Surely Ikuto wasn't giving them money just because he was generous. And the kids didn't look poor, so Ikuto probably wasn't giving them money for nothing. Amu was suspicious now. They probably did something for Ikuto.

_But what? _Amu wondered what they did for Ikuto that earned them twenty dollars.

Amu saw Ikuto coming her way, so then she did something she never would have expected herself to do. She hid behind a trash can and waited for Ikuto to leave before approaching the two boys to ask them why Ikuto gave them twenty dollars. She knew it wasn't her business, but she couldn't help it; she was curious. The boys were much younger than Ikuto, so Amu figured they probably didn't know Ikuto.

"Wait up." Amu said to the two kids after coming up to them.

"Yes?" The bully asked politely. Amu thought he didn't sound like a bully at all, just a normal kid.

"Why did he give you two some money?" Amu asked. "Did you do anything for him?"

"You mean that mysterious guy with the blue hair? Yeah, he paid us so he would pretend to bully me and I would be his victim," The smaller kid explained.

"Yeah, so he could pretend to be the hero and save him." The taller kid gestured to the smaller one.

"Oh, really? So this is just something he set up so he looks like a hero?" Amu asked, beginning to hate Ikuto all over again.

"I guess," The smaller kid answered.

"Oh. I see." Amu said and left to go back to the limo. She was disappointed. She had thought Ikuto wasn't that bad and actually was nice…but it was just a scheme. He wasn't really like that.

"Where's Ikuto?" Rima asked.

"He said he felt like walking." Amu lied. "And you know when Ikuto saved that kid from that bully?" Amu told Utau, Yaya, and Rima about how Ikuto had set the whole thing up.

"Why would he set that up? I mean, why would he want us to think he's nice and heroic and stuff?" Yaya asked after Amu had explained the whole thing.

"I don't know…" Amu trailed off, wondering the same thing. Why would Ikuto want them to think he was nice and all? Why would he care what they thought of him?

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Amu took out her diary and pen and started writing.

_Dear Diary,_

_So today I got to go to one of Utau's concerts! Remember when I said she looks kinda like that singer Ami really likes? Well she is that singer! She sings really well. I enjoyed the concert. And I saw Ikuto help this poor kid who was being bullied…or so I thought. But it turns out that was just one of his evil schemes. Wow, I made him sound like this evil mad scientist or something. Anyways, I found out he had paid those two kids so he seemed nice and heroic and all that. But Utau, Rima, Yaya, and I were the only ones watching. So why would he go to all that trouble anyway? Why would he want to impress us? I'm confused. And kinda disappointed. After seeing Ikuto "help" that kid, I thought Ikuto wasn't as much of a jerk as I thought but then I found out he faked it. I knew it from the start! Ikuto is just a mean jerk. Well, that's it for today. Good night, diary._

_~Amu_

* * *

**A/N: Okay, done with the chapter! So that was the EVIL plan…now it doesn't seem as evil. More like a joke or something. Whatever, I still think it is kinda evil-ish. I was going to make this story around ten chapters or something but now I might make it somewhere between fifteen to twenty chapters…I don't know. Maybe I'll make it around fifteen chapters so it isn't that short. Anyways, please review! ;DDD**


	5. Tadase? Confessing?

~CHAPTER 5~

"Listen up, class! I have important news to tell you!" Nikaidou announced and everyone quieted down, anxious to hear what the important announcement was. After everyone got quiet, Nikaidou continued, "We are going on a school trip!"

"When will we leave?" One student asked.

"Very soon! I have a list of stuff you need to pack and a permission slip your parents need to sign. We'll be going to this fun, educational place for a few days with everyone in eighth grade like you guys. Everything is written on the form. Remember to give this to your parents. Now, I need someone to pass out the forms…" Nikaidou handed out the packing list and permission slip and started talking about the trip to the class.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

**(AFTER SCHOOL IKUTO POV)**

"Where are you going?" Utau asked me just as I was about to step outside the house.

"Just taking a walk," I replied, and closed the door behind me.

I didn't really have anything to do so I felt like taking a walk, which was something I did when I was bored. Besides, getting fresh air was good for me. I was walking through the streets when I heard a familiar voice ask, "When are you going to tell her?" Tell her what?

I recognized the voice as Kukai's. I spotted Kukai and Tadase sitting on a bench talking. I crouched behind a bush that was near them and listened in on their conversation. It's not like I'm eavesdropping or anything, I just want to know what they're talking about.

"Well, sometime soon. I can never get her alone. She's always with someone else," Tadase answered. Okay, so he needs to tell her something and he doesn't want others to hear. But I still don't know _what_ he needs to tell her, or who he needs to tell it to. But I do know that it's a girl since he called her a "she" so I'm one step closer to solving the mystery. I feel like a detective now.

"But are you sure you like her? I mean, you just met her recently and all, so you should think about–" Kukai began. Now I know Tadase wants to tell this girl that he likes her, and she is someone he just met. That's weird. Tadase's never actually liked anyone at school before. All the girls are either his fan girls or his friends. He never seemed to like any of them as more than that.

"I'm sure." Tadase cut him off. "Now, I need to leave now. Thanks for listening to me," He got up from the bench.

"No problem. But I still think you should think this thro–" Kukai started to say but Tadase interrupted him again. Kukai seems to really not want Tadase to confess to this person.

"I've already thought this true. Goodbye, Souma-kun." With that, Tadase left and started walking back the way he came.

"You can get out from that bush now, Ikuto." Kukai turned around and looked at me. How did he know I was here? It couldn't have been that obvious!

"How did you know I was here?" I questioned, voicing my thoughts.

"It was pretty obvious. You're lucky Tadase didn't turn around and see you eavesdropping on us." Kukai replied.

"I was not eavesdrop–" I stopped myself. "Okay, maybe I was. But it wasn't my fault you were talking so loudly. And I was curious."

"So I'm guessing you want to know _who_ Tadase is going to confess to?" Kukai inquired, and I nodded. "It's Amu." Amu? He likes _her_? Like Kukai had said, he had just met her recently. I should have known. Maybe my detective skills aren't as good as I thought.

"Why didn't you tell him not to? You know I like her," I said.

"I did, remember? But he wouldn't listen," Kukai explained. "But fear not, I have a plan."

"Your last plan didn't work," I told him. Amu didn't seem to dislike me any less than she did before. Maybe one of those kids told her. After all, it's not like they knew that I didn't want her to know.

"Oh, it didn't? Well, this plan will be better! All we have to do is get Tadase to like someone else!"

"Like who?"

"Someone. Most of the girls at school like him, anyway. Or if that doesn't work, we can just somehow convince him not to confess to Amu." Kukai said, and then lowered his voice. "And I think Amu might like him, too."

Okay, all we have to do is get him to like someone else. Sounds simple enough.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

**(AMU POV)**

"Amu?" Utau asked.

"Yes, Utau?" I answered.

"I think Ikuto likes you. _Like_ likes you."

"What?!"

He can't like me. It's not like I'm nice to him. Utau is crazy. Yep, that's it. She's just imagining things. Besides, I can't think of Ikuto as the type to actually _like_ someone. He probably is a human robot who doesn't have feelings. Yeah, that's what he is.

"Amu, he has feelings, you know," Utau said, as if she could read my mind. "And I'm his sister so I know him well enough to know that he likes you. So what are you going to do about it?"

"He doesn't like me. And even if he does, I don't have to do anything about it." I said.

"My, my, you're a difficult one." Utau sighed. "Anyways, we're here."

Utau stopped walking, so I did too, and I looked up to see that Utau and I were in front of a mall. So that's where Utau said we were going.

"Hello, Amu-chi, Utan!" Yaya came bouncing up to us, followed by Rima. "Let's shop now!"

"Shopping? But I don't want to–" I was cut off when Yaya held on to one of my hands and Rima held on to the other and together, they dragged me into the mall, with Utau following close behind. Oh, well, I guess a little shopping could be fun.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

**IKUTO'S JOURNAL (NOT A DIARY!)**

_Dear JOURNAL,_

_I have decided to keep a JOURNAL (not a diary) since then I can look back and read about stuff that happened to me when I was younger. You know how come boys carry satchels (not purses)? The same way this is a journal (not a diary). So, today, I was taking a walk when I heard Kukai and Tadase talking, and I found out that Tadase is planning to confess to Amu sometime soon. Kukai devised a plan to get Tadase not to confess. Well, it's not really a plan, just a sort-of-plan where we have to get Tadase to like someone other than Amu so he doesn't confess to her. Hopefully this plan will work out better than the last one. Kukai says that Amu seems to like Tadase, too, so if he confesses, she'll probably say yes. Though I don't really have a chance with her anyway since she kind of HATES me. Or at the very least, strongly dislikes me. She hasn't really done anything mean to me, but it's not like she's nice either. Well, that's it, I guess. I don't really have any more to say. Goodnight, diary – I mean journal, not diary._

_- Ikuto_

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

**AMU'S DIARY**

Dear Diary,

Today I went shopping with Utau, Yaya, and Rima. It was actually pretty fun. I had never gone shopping with friends before since, thanks to my "cool and spicy" façade, most people would have thought that I might think it's boring, so they never asked me if I wanted to go shopping. While we were on our way to the mall, Utau told me something crazy. And it is so not true. Would you like to know what exactly the crazy thing she told me was? Well, she said that Ikuto likes me. And by like, she meant _like_ like, as in more than a friend like. You know what I mean? Crazy, right? Ikuto can't like me. He should know by now that I don't like him, so he probably doesn't like me, too. But after what Utau said, I feel kind of confused. I mean, I don't think he likes me, but I can't be sure. Utau is his sister, so she probably knows him well. I know I don't like him. Other than that shopping trip with Utau, Yaya, and Rima and what Utau said, nothing interesting happened today. Oh, wait, Nikaidou-sensei did announce this morning at school that we're going on a school trip. That sounds fun. And it's pretty soon. Okay, that's it for real. Night, diary.

~Amu

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

**A/N: Okay, that's chapter 5. When I was writing this chapter, I was thinking of how some boys carry satchels and people on TV and stuff call them purses and how they also write in diaries but they call them journals. I always thought that was kind of funny so I made Ikuto write in a diary like Amu but he calls it a journal. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! :DDD**


	6. Ponytailcuffs

**~* CHAPTER 6 *~**

"Hey, look, there's someone! Tadase might like her!" Kukai gestured towards a girl walking down the street."

"But she isn't in Tadase's grade so she probably doesn't know him," Ikuto said. "This means she probably isn't one of his fan girls."

The two of them were walking to school. Ikuto had woke up extra early to plot with Kukai since if he woke up late there wouldn't be anyone else walking to school and he needed someone to help with the plan other than Kukai.

"So?"

"She might ask us to pay her if she's going to do the plan. Or she might not even like him."

"But Tadase wouldn't like his fan girls, so we need to find someone who doesn't like Tadase." Kukai argued.

"But I don't think I can pay them…" Ikuto said.

They were quiet for a moment thinking of what they should do when Kukai suddenly blurted, "I know just what to do!"

"What?"

"I don't think you're going to like it."

"Tell me!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Really sure?"

"Yep."

"Really really su–"

"JUST TELL ME ALREADY."

"Okay, then," Kukai whispered his idea into Ikuto's ear. "Are you in?" He queried after telling Ikuto his idea.

"WHAT? NO WAY!"

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

"Stop shaking your head!"

"A fly landed on it!"

"Ow, what was that for?"

"You did it first!"

Amu and Utau were shouting at each other. Why were they shouting at each other? Well, it all started when Yaya was playing with Amu's and Utau's hair…

_Flashback_

"_Hey, guys, wanna see something cool?" Yaya exclaimed. Utau had invited her over to her house, and Yaya, Amu, and Utau were sitting in Utau's room._

"_Sure," Amu replied._

"_What is it?" Utau had questioned._

"_Just cloooseee your eeyeess," Yaya said in a mysterious voice._

"_But how will we see if we–" Amu began._

"_Shhh," Yaya interrupted Amu by putting a finger on Amu's lips. "Just close them!"_

_Amu and Utau followed Yaya's directions and closed their eyes. Amu felt Yaya touch her side ponytail and Utau felt her touch one of her pigtails. They kept their eyes closed like Yaya had told them to until–"You can open your eyes now!" Yaya told Amu and Utau._

"_Yaya? What did you do?" Utau asked. Her left pigtail and Amu's side ponytail were tied together by a weird metal thingy._

"_I tied your ponytails together! With handcuffs!" Yaya beamed._

"_Why did you do that?" Amu questioned._

"_Yaya watched and episode of this TV show where these people were handcuffed together! And Yaya thought it would be funny to handcuff your ponytails together! Yaya even used tiny handcuffs so they wouldn't slip off!"_

"_Yaya…" Utau growled._

"_Don't worry, Yaya has the key to take the handcuffs off!" Yaya pulled out a key from the pocket of her shorts when a gust of wind blew by, and Yaya dropped the key. But she was standing next to the open window so the key fell down…out the window before getting carried by the wind and landing on the roof of the neighbors' house._

"_Um, Yaya needs to leave now!" Yaya ran out of Utau's bedroom and out the front door._

_End of Flashback_

"We can't go to school like this!" Amu cried.

"Yes we can…we just need to get the key off of the neighbors' roof," Utau said. "But we can't let the neighbors find out! Or my parents…they might get mad."

"Is there a ladder we can sneak out of the house?" Amu inquired.

"No…but I have an idea," Utau grinned.

"Utau, we're not going to–" Amu was cut off when Utau started running out of her room. Since their ponytails were handcuffed together, Amu had no choice but to follow.

"Ow, you're pulling me!" Amu whined, but Utau didn't stop until they got into the neighbors' front yard and were standing in front of the first-floor window.

"Climb in," Utau said after climbing through the window herself.

"We really shouldn't–" Amu started to say but was cut off by Utau.

"_Climb in_," Utau glared, and Amu did as she was told. "Now, the neighbors will be back in exactly fifteen minutes so we need to get the key and escape before they come back."

"Alright," Amu agreed and followed Utau up the stairs to the attic, where there was an opening in the roof with a ladder under it they could climb to get up to the roof. Utau started going up and Amu followed below her until they were on the roof.

"There it is!" Amu pointed to a silver key on the very edge of the roof. She ran over to it to pick it up, with Utau following, when she accidentally tripped over it and her foot sent it flying down to the ground, and Amu fell off the edge of the roof.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

"You have to do it," Kukai insisted. "It's not like anyone else will…for free."

"Fine, I will," Ikuto gave in. "But where am I supposed to find a dress?"

"You have a sister. Get one from Utau's room. There's still half an hour until school starts," Kukai said.

"Fine, fine," Ikuto muttered and started walking towards his house while Kukai continued walking to school.

When he got to his house, Ikuto saw an interesting sight. Utau was lying down on the roof with one of her ponytails hanging down off the edge, and Amu's ponytail was linked to hers with…a handcuff? Amu was holding onto the edge of the roof, with her ponytail above her head, and she looked like she was in danger. Utau couldn't help since if she let go of the roof to pull Amu up, she would fall and bring Amu with her.

At first, Utau and Amu didn't notice Ikuto until he came over to the neighbors' yard and started laughing at them.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Amu yelled at him.

"But your ponytails, they're," Ikuto stopped to laugh. "They're handcuffed!"

"That was Yaya's fault," Utau grumbled. "And can't you see that Amu is in danger here?"

Ikuto looked at Amu and saw that she was struggling to pull herself up, and failing. She might fall off the roof anytime now. And if she did…Ikuto didn't want to think about what would happen if she did.

"I'll help," Ikuto said and ran into the neighbors' house. He ran up the stairs to the attic and climbed up the ladder to the roof.

Ikuto pulled Amu up from the side of the roof, and Amu and Utau both stood up. They saw the neighbors' car pull into the driveway and hurried downstairs and out the window. Luckily, the neighbors didn't spot them.

"Hey, what's this?" Ikuto picked up a silver key from the ground.

"We need that key to unlock our handcuffs," Utau explained. "Now give it."

"Okay," Ikuto said and waved the key in front of her but pulled it away when she tried to take it. "But on one condition."

"What?" Utau crossed her arms.

"I need to borrow a dress." Ikuto said, and when Utau and Amu started to laugh, he added, "Don't laugh at me. And don't tell anyone or else you won't get the key."

"Fine," Utau agreed and Amu nodded.

Ikuto tossed the key inside and Utau and Amu went inside to get it. Then Utau pulled Ikuto inside so he could take off their handcuffs for them, which he did. Ikuto had found a dress to borrow for his plan, and Amu and Utau were free. Everyone was happy. Until–

"What are you kiddies doing in here?"

_Uh-oh_, Amu, Ikuto, and Utau all thought. The neighbors were here, and they were still in their house.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

**AMU'S DIARY**

Well, today was interesting. Yaya decided to handcuff Utau and me since she just saw it in a TV show and thought it might be fun. I bet you think Yaya handcuffed our hands, but no. She handcuffed our ponytails. Weird, huh? So Utau and I kind of broke in…well, not broke in but we went in the neighbors' house without them knowing…since the key somehow got carried by the wind over to the roof of the neighbors' house. Don't ask me how, it just did. So when we got up to the roof where the key was I tripped on it, sending it falling off the roof and I fell with it. Luckily, I managed to grab on to the edge of the roof before I fell off. That was scary. To think of what might have happened if I didn't hold on to the edge…I don't want to think of it. And guess who ended up saving Utau and me? Ikuto, that's who. He pulled me up from the edge and saved me. And I'm pretty sure he didn't pay Yaya to handcuff us. And, don't tell anyone, but for some reason he wanted to borrow a dress. Weird. Unfortunately, though, the neighbors saw us in their house and now they're probably going to tell our parents that we broke into their house. But it was their fault they left the window open.

~Amu

* * *

**A/N: Done with chapter 6! I just thought it would be funny if you handcuffed Amu's and Utau's ponytails instead of their hands and…yeah. Instead of handcuffing, it's ponytailcuffing! That sounded lame. Anyways, review? XD**


	7. Ditch Day

~*CHAPTER 7*~

**A/N: Hi! I'm drinking tomato juice right now! Before I forget, just in case you're confused, Midori is Amu's mom, Tsumugu is Amu's dad, Aruto is Ikuto's dad, and Souko is Ikuto's mom. And remember it's BAD to ditch school and go to parties without your parents' permission so don't follow Amu, Ikuto, and Utau's BAD example! XD**

* * *

"What punishment do you think we should give them?" Midori asked.

"Maybe…no supper?" Aruto suggested.

"Nah, something else," Tsumugu disagreed.

"But what?" Souko wondered aloud.

Amu, Ikuto, and Utau sat on the sofa and watched as their parents tried to think of a good punishment for breaking into the neighbors' house. Ami was there, too, because she wanted to know what punishment they were getting so she just sat there. The neighbors' had obviously told their parents that they broke into their house, and they were going to call the police too but Amu's and Ikuto and Utau's parents all managed to convince them not to and that it wouldn't happen again. But unfortunately, Amu, Ikuto, and Utau were still going to be punished.

"I got it!" Tsumugu suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone else in the room to look at him.

"What?" Ikuto questioned.

"You three are all…grounded!" Tsumugu announced, and the other parents agreed that that was a good punishment.

"Wait, Ikuto didn't do anything," Amu said. "He just saved Utau and me."

"Saved?" Souko inquired.

"Yeah, when our ponytails were handcuffed and–" Utau started to explain before Ikuto cut her off.

"I broke into the house too," Ikuto interrupted, and pretended not to notice when Utau and Amu sent him questioning looks.

"No, only Utau and I did!" Amu argued.

"Yeah!" Utau agreed.

"No, I did most of it." Ikuto lied.

"You didn't do anything!" Amu said.

"Yes, I did." Ikuto lied again.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes."

"No."

"YES."

"NO."

"YES!"

"NO!"

"Enough!" Midori yelled and Ikuto and Amu stopped their bickering. "It's sweet that you don't want the other person to take the blame, but you're all grounded. End of story."

With that, the parents and Ami left the room, leaving Amu, Ikuto, and Utau alone in the living room.

"What was that for?" Utau asked Ikuto after the parents and Ami had left.

"You guys would have been in more trouble if they found out what really happened. You're just lucky no one except for me saw you when you were hanging off the edge of the roof." Ikuto replied.

"But you didn't need to cover for us. Why do you care anyways?" Amu queried.

"I didn't want you two to be in more trouble," Ikuto answered.

"Aw, he cares about us!" Utau hugged Ikuto tightly before he pushed her away.

"Besides, now I get to borrow a dress," Ikuto said, and when he saw that Amu and Utau looked like they were about to burst out laughing, he threatened, "Don't laugh and don't tell _anyone_ I'm borrowing a dress. And don't ask why. Or else I'll tell the parents what really happened."

"Okay, sheesh, no need to be a grumpy-wumpkins," Utau grumbled.

"You did laugh at us when we were hanging off the roof." Amu pointed out.

"Yeah, but I saved you didn't I?" Ikuto retorted and Amu kept quiet. "Now I need to get a dress."

Ikuto left the room to get one of Utau's dresses, so now it was only Utau and Amu in the room. They sat there in silence not knowing what to do until Amu thought of something.

"Utau, what time is it?"

"Um, a little past ten, why do you ask?"

"School started hours ago."

"WHAT?!"

"We should get to school now," Amu said.

"Nah, let's ditch."

"Ditch?"

"Yeah, I don't think the parents noticed that today was a school day and a chance like this might never come again." Utau pointed out.

"True," Amu agreed. "So now what do we do?"

"Watch TV?" Utau suggested and turned on the TV, but then her mom came in the room.

"No watching TV or using computer or any other fun game things!" Souko said and snatched the TV remote away from them before leaving the room.

Utau and Amu sat on the sofa in silence, not knowing what to do. They couldn't leave the house or watch TV or use the computer so there was nothing they wanted to do.

"So…" Amu broke the awkward silence.

"So?"

"Now what do we do?"

"Well–" Utau started to say but was interrupted by the beeping of her phone. "Hold on, I got a text." Utau read the text.

"What is it?" Amu questioned.

"Saaya's throwing a party tonight and I'm invited. Sounds like fun. Do you want to come?" Utau asked.

"Sure! But wait…we're grounded so we can't leave the house…" Amu trailed off.

"Whatever, we can sneak out," Utau shrugged as if this was perfectly normal.

"But, but Utau! We can't do that!" Amu said.

"Why not?" Utau questioned.

"Because," Amu explained, "It's…not right," She finished lamely.

"Okay, then, I guess I'll go alone…" Utau sing-songed.

"No, I'm coming too!" Amu shouted.

"Ah…reverse psychology. Works every time." Utau grinned.

"Utau?"

"Yes?"

"You're evil."

* * *

"Oh, hello, Ikura," Kukai grinned. Ikuto had called him over since he was grounded and couldn't visit Kukai himself. Kukai had to come in through Ikuto's window so no one would know he was there since being grounded also meant you couldn't have any one over.

"Shut up," Ikuto grumbled. "I still don't see why I have to…cross dress. We should have gotten Nagihiko or Kairi or someone else who would do it for free."

"Actually, I tried that, but it didn't go well…" Kukai admitted.

_Flashback_

"_Hey, Nagihiko, you know how you sometimes, you know, pretend to be a girl?" Kukai asked._

"_Yeah," Nagihiko answered. "Why do you ask?"_

"_Oh, I was wondering if you would crossdressasNadeshikoandaskT adaseoutbecauseIthinkhehasat hingforher," Kukai mumbled quickly._

"_What? I didn't get that," Nagihiko said._

"_I SAID I was wondering if you would cross dress as Nadeshiko and ask her out because I think he has a thing for her," Kukai repeated, but more clearly this time._

"_Why?" Nagihiko questioned._

"_Oh, I just want to make my good pal Tadase happy, you know, with the right person," Kukai answered._

"_But Nadeshiko's not real, so he wouldn't be happy if he found out he was actually dating me…" Nagihiko narrowed his eyes. "Tell me the real reason."_

"_NO!" Kukai said a little too quickly._

"_Tell me the real reason." Nagihiko demanded._

"_NO!" Kukai shouted again and ran out of the Royal Garden before Nagihiko could question him further, and bumped into Kairi on his way back home._

"_Hello, Souma-kun," Kairi greeted._

"_Oh, hey, Kairi, I was wondering if you would do me a favor and, you know, dress up as a girl to make Tadase fall in love with you?" Kukai inquired._

"_Why?" Kairi questioned. "And tell me the real reason," He added sounding like Nagihiko._

"_Oh, never mind!" Kukai said and ran off since he was afraid the same thing that had happened with Nagihiko would happen, leaving a dumbfounded Kairi standing in the middle of the sidewalk._

_End of Flashback_

"Anyways, all you have to do is get Tadase to fall in love with you and then he won't like Amu anymore. And remember, your name is Ikura, not Ikuto. Tadase will be at Saaya's party too, so you can talk to him there," Kukai explained.

"Alright," Ikuto agreed and changed into his "Ikura" clothes as he called it, so he was wearing Utau's navy blue, long halter dress and silver pumps, and a wig so it looked like he had wavy, turquoise hair that reached his shoulders.

"Now, for your make-up!" Kukai grinned. "You know, so your face looks like a girl's and stuff!"

"What? No, I'm not–" Ikuto was cut off when Kukai started putting some lipstick on his lips. "Where did you get that anyway? Stop it!"

* * *

**(AMU POV)**

"Ready?" Utau walked into my room looking gorgeous in a frilly purple halter dress that went down to her mid-thigh and silver gladiator sandals. It looked like she was wearing a little makeup too.

"Yep," I agreed. I was wearing a pink and black off the shoulder top and some jeans, which was something I would normally wear, for Saaya's party.

"Hold up," Utau stopped me. "This is the biggest party of the year. Saaya throws one every year, and you are not showing up wearing…that."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I asked.

"It would be nice if we were going to some normal place, not a fancy party. You need to wear a dress." Utau said and started looking around in my closet.

"I don't have any fancy dresses," I said but Utau ignored me and continued digging through my closet, tossing clothes everywhere until she found a dress she thought was suitable.

"Wear this," Utau ordered, shoving a dress into my arms. It was my hot pink tube dress, the one that had the black frills everywhere and went up to mid-thigh that my mom had gotten for my birthday last year and was hidden in the back of my closet for a long time.

"I'm fine wearing this," I said but Utau insisted I wear the dress so I did.

"Now, stay here," Utau ordered and ran out of the room. She came back with black high heels and a box, which she opened and I saw that it was filled with makeup. No. I am _not_ wearing makeup.

"Utau, stop it!" I said as she smeared lipstick across my lips.

"Stay still!" Utau commanded and continued putting makeup on me.

When Utau was done, I looked in the mirror. I had to admit she had done a pretty good job. I looked…kind of pretty. Utau gave me the black heels, which I put on. I didn't look like I was going on a casual outing anymore, but like I was going to a more formal party.

"There," Utau grinned. "_Now_ you're ready."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, done! Hey, is this my longest chapter so far? I think it is! Mmm...I like tomato juice! Oh, wait, this is vegetable juice! But it has tomatoes too and it's red so it looks like tomato juice! Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I don't really watch the Super Bowl, but whatevs! Pretty please review! ^_^**


	8. Ikura? Who's that?

~*CHAPTER EIGHT*~

**(Amu POV)**

I followed Utau out of my room. My parents as well as her parents were at home, but they had gone to bed since it was already a little past nine. The party was at nine, but Utau had explained to me that it's okay if you don't show up right on time. So it's 9:03 already and we're leaving now. All we have to do is get past their room quietly and out the back door. We're not using the front door in case someone might go there. I feel kind of bad lying to my parents…but I can't back out now, and besides, they'll never know. As long as we make it there and back without anyone notic–hey, why did Utau stop? Utau stopped walking right in front of Ikuto's room, causing me to slam into her. Ow.

"Why did you stop?" I voiced my thoughts, only to have Utau say, "Shhh!"

I was about to ask why she just shushed me when she clamped a hand over my mouth so I couldn't speak.

"Just listen," Utau hissed in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"One more thing," I heard a voice in Ikuto's room say, and I could tell it wasn't Ikuto's, but I'm not sure who it was speaking. I don't remember ever hearing their voice before, and I know it's not Ami, Ikuto, my parents, or Utau and Ikuto's parents. So who could it be? "Make sure not to run into Amu or Utau, or anyone else that knows you for that matter. Excluding Tadase, of course," The person in Ikuto's room continued.

"It's Kukai," Utau answered my previous question about who the person talking was. But I still don't know who Kukai is. "Ikuto's friend," Utau explained after seeing my face, which probably looked confused.

"Okay," I heard another voice say, but it didn't sound like Ikuto's. I can't tell whose voice it is, but it sounded more girly and high-pitched than Ikuto's voice. So who could Kukai be talking to? And wait a moment–Ikuto wasn't allowed to have friends over because he's grounded. But I guess Utau and I shouldn't say anything since it was our fault he got grounded in the first place. And we were going to a party, so we were breaking the parents' rules, too. Plus, we probably shouldn't let anyone see us in our fancy dresses or they might think something's up.

Utau removed the hand over my mouth and crept over to the door and opened it slightly. "Hey, who _is_ that?" Utau whispered to herself, and I crept over too so I could see who she was talking about. Unfortunately for me, I was shorter than Utau and the door was only open a crack so I couldn't see anything.

"Utau, can you move so I can see?" I whispered.

"No." Utau answered bluntly.

"Move!" I tried to push her, but she wouldn't budge. Then I tried again, but this time I ran into her, causing both of us to fall through the door, right in front of Kukai and this other girl next to him. Hey, she looks kind of pretty, with her turquoise hair and navy blue eyes. Hey, her eyes look exactly like Ikuto's, which is kind of weird. Now that I think about it, she looks a lot like Ikuto. Utau and I got up and just stood there awkwardly.

"Hi!" Kukai broke the awkward silence.

"Why are you here? Who's that? And why does she look so much like Ikuto? Why does she have the exact same eyes? If I didn't know better I would say that was Ikuto cross dressing. One more question: Where's Ikuto?" Utau asked a bunch of questions to Kukai. I stifled laughter when she said she thought Ikuto might be cross dressing. I can't imagine _him_, of all people, wearing a dress and maybe makeup, too.

"T-that's a lot of questions," Kukai said. "So, Ikuto invited me here, and this person here," He gestured to the pretty girl with turquoise hair, "Is Ikura. She is Ikuto's…cousin! That's why she looks like him and has the same eyes. She's not Ikuto. And Ikuto…he went to…the circus!"

"Cousin?" Utau looked at him disbelievingly. His story was weird, but it seemed true to me. If Ikura is Ikuto's cousin, she would look similar, I guess. They are related. And Ikuto does seem like someone who would wander of somewhere when he's grounded, like the circus for example. "And what type of name is Ikura? And Ikuto HATES circuses."

"Ikuto HATES circuses?" Kukai repeated. "How come he never told me that?"

"He probably doesn't want you to know he has a fear of clowns," Utau said. I think I saw Ikura flinch a little when she said that. I wonder why. Maybe she has a fear of clowns, too.

"He never told me that either!" Kukai exclaimed. "Oh, and Ikura is a perfectly normal name," he added.

"Why are you two dressed all fancily?" Utau questioned. I just noticed that Ikura was wearing a blue dress and silver pumps. And Kukai was wearing a tuxedo. With a green bow tie.

"I could ask you the same question. Amu and you look like you're going to a party or something," Kukai pointed out.

"We're going to Saaya's party," Utau explained.

"We are too!" Kukai grinned.

"Hey, wait a moment…" I just thought of something. "Why are you two here, then?"

"Oh, we decided to meet here," Kukai explained. "I thought Ikuto was coming, too, but I guess he went somewhere. I think it was the circus, but he might have been lying, you know, 'cause he's afraid of clowns." Ikura flinched again. She seems kind of angry whenever clowns are mentioned.

"Why are you meeting here?" Utau narrowed her eyes. She's been asking a lot of questions.

"Because…Ikura's my date!" Kukai explained, and Ikura face-palmed, but I think only I noticed.

"Well, anyways, we should go now," Ikura spoke up before Utau could ask any more questions. I just realized she hasn't said anything this entire time. But then again, I only said two sentences. Ikura's voice definitely sounds like a girl's. So what Utau said wasn't true, about her thinking that Ikura was really Ikuto pretending to be a girl.

"Okay," I agreed and we all walked out of the room.

"Wait," Utau stopped walking. "You two better not let my parents or Amu's parents know Amu and I are going to that party. Or else we'll tell them that Ikuto went out somewhere, too."

"Okay," Kukai agreed.

"Sure," Ikura nodded.

"Hey, Ikura, can you open your mouth wide?" Utau asked. That was a weird question.

"Um, okay." Ikura opened her mouth.

"Now stick your tongue out," Utau commanded, and Ikura obeyed. "Stick it up, I mean, so I can see the bottom of your mouth," Utau explained.

Ikura was about to do that, but then she put her tongue down again and said, "Hey, it's already nine-thirty! We should leave now."

"But–" Utau started.

"Come on, we don't want to be late, Utau." I tugged her sleeve and we continued walking. We were creeping past my parents' and Utau's parents' bedrooms (which happened to be next to each other) when Kukai suddenly spoke.

"Hey, who are you?" Kukai loudly asked me. I realized I had never told him my name, and this was the first time he had ever spoken to me.

"Did you hear something?" I heard my mom's voice ask. We must have woken her up. She always was a pretty light sleeper, and her hearing was pretty good. Either that, or she was still awake. It wasn't even that late anyways, so she might have been awake.

"It's probably nothing," I heard my dad's voice mumble this time. Uh-oh. They had both heard us.

"I'll go check," My mom said and I heard footsteps coming closer. My mom was going to open the door. And then she would see us–Utau, Kukai, Ikura, and me. There were no rooms around us to duck into. Where were we supposed to hide? The footsteps were getting louder and louder. I heard the doorknob jiggle, and the door was about to open when a hand pulled me into a closet.

"Kukai, you idiot, why did you have to talk so loudly?" I heard Utau hiss, followed by a slapping sound.

"Sorry," Kukai grumbled quietly. I wonder if Utau slapped him on the head or something. But I can't tell since it's pitch black in this closet. Oh, yeah, there was a coat closet here. I forgot about that.

"Hello? Anyone there?" My mom called from outside the closet. Utau, Kukai, Ikura, and me held our breath and stayed quiet so my mom wouldn't hear us. After what seemed like a long time, though it was probably only a minute, my mom said, "I guess I just imagined it." I heard her footsteps fading and a door shut, which meant she must have gone back inside her room.

I tried to open the door, but I couldn't find a doorknob anywhere. I also tried pushing it open, but that didn't work either. "Why won't this door open?" I asked.

"Oh, I just remembered," Utau whispered. "You can't open this closet from the inside. There isn't a doorknob. Nice going, Kukai."

"What? You were the one who got the idea of coming in here, not me!" Kukai protested, his voice getting slightly louder.

"Whatever," Utau said at a normal volume instead of whispering. "It's still your fault."

"My fault?" Kukai inquired. "How is it–"

"Guys, stop arguing!" Ikura hissed. "Someone might hear us."

"She's right," I said and then the four of us sat in silence.

This closet was pretty cramped, so I was squished between Ikura and the wall. I was almost sitting in Ikura's lap since the closet was so small. And it's really hot and stuffy in here, too. It was really uncomfortable, but we were stuck in the coat closet until someone opened the door and found us, which would be in the morning probably. And the only other people in the house are my parents and Utau's parents, and if they find us we'll get in trouble. Wait a moment! There's Ikuto too! And he'll come home before morning! Or I could call him. I think I have my phone with me…

"Hey, we can call Ikuto to open the door!" I suddenly exclaimed, causing Ikura to clamp a hand over my mouth and whisper, "You might wake someone up!"

"Do you have your phone with you?" Utau questioned.

"Yeah," I nodded. Now I can call him!

"Wait, you can't call Ikuto," Kukai said. "He left his phone at home."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive." Kukai confirmed.

We sat in silence again, not knowing what to do. Being stuck in closets is BORING. Suddenly, my phone beeped. I checked it to see I had a text from Yaya.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

**To: Amu Hinamori**

**From: Yaya Yuiki**

**Subject: PARTY!**

**Amu-chi, have you forgotten about Saaya's party? I told Utau to tell you. You and Utau need to get to Saaya's house. The party started at 9:00 and now it's already around 10:00! HURRY UP!**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

I was about to text back that we can't come when I had an idea. Yaya would surely open the closet door for us if we asked, and she wouldn't tell anyone. I quickly texted her back.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

**To: Yaya Yuiki**

**From: Amu Hinamori**

**Subject: Re: PARTY!**

**I'm stuck in the coat closet with Utau, Ikuto's friend Kukai, and Ikuto's cousin Ikura. We can't open the door from the inside, so we need you to get in the house and open the closet door. Can you do that?**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

**To: Amu Hinamori**

**From: Yaya Yuiki**

**Subject: Re: Re: PARTY!**

**OK! I'll be there! Don't worry, I have spare keys to your house! I'M ON MY WAY! :D**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Wow, Yaya didn't seem to think it was weird that we were stuck in a coat closet. She didn't even ask how. Well, I'm glad she can help us. It'll make up for when she ponytailcuffed Utau and me, so then I won't have to steal all of Yaya's candy and force her to eat only salad at lunch for a month like Utau says I should. Around ten minutes later, the door to the coat closet opened to reveal Yaya grinning at the four of us.

"Yaya? Why are you here?" Utau asked. I had forgotten that Utau, Kukai, and Ikura didn't see me text Yaya.

"Amu-chi texted me to come save the day!" Yaya said. "Now come on! We've got a party to get to!"

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, the party wasn't in this chapter. It'll be in the next chapter. I bet you all thought it was in this one. ;D I actually was going to put it in this chapter, but this already was long enough so I stopped the chapter here. I made Ikuto afraid of clowns because I felt like it. And I made him HATE circuses because I felt like it and they have clowns in them! XD Oh, and did you notice this chapter was longer than usual! Yay for long chapters! I feel like my author's notes get longer each chapter. Or maybe I'm just imagining it. Please review! :DDD**


	9. PARTY TIME!

~*CHAPTER NINE*~

Yaya, Amu, Ikura, Kukai, and Utau tiptoed until they were outside the house, where they decided to walk normally since no one in the house could hear them. Yaya led the way as they began walking to Saaya's house. No one really said anything except for Amu who complained about how her heels hurt her feet occasionally. And Yaya, who was humming a song under her breath. And sometimes Kukai spoke, but rarely. But other than them, no one said anything.

"My feet hurt," Amu whined.

"We are the Winx, we are the Winx…" Yaya sang quietly, barely loud enough for the others to hear.

"Hey, is that a clown?" Kukai asked to no one in particular, causing Ikura (who was holding his hand) to dig her nails painfully into his palm. "Ow! I was only kidding…" Kukai muttered.

"I don't like wearing heels…" Amu sighed to herself.

Utau and Ikura were the only people that didn't say a word the whole time, until Utau decided to say, "Hey, Ikura?"

"Y-yes?" Ikura questioned.

"So…what's your favorite monster movie of all time?" Utau asked.

"Zombie Wars 5," Ikura immediately answered.

"Oh, really?" Utau asked suspiciously, and Ikura gulped. "That's also Ikuto's favorite."

"Oh, that's a funny coincidence," Ikura let out a nervous laugh.

"And what's your birthday?" Utau inquired.

"Oh, February 32," Ikura replied.

"There is no February 32," Utau glared at Ikura.

"I said February 22. You must have heard wrong," Ikura lied.

"You think I heard wrong?" Utau questioned.

"Um, yeah, I think you did," Ikura answered.

Utau paused before narrowing her eyes and saying, "I'm keeping an eye on you…*Ikura*." Utau pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Ikura's to make herself clear.

"Okay," Ikura agreed, and she and Utau walked in silence once more.

"Vamonos! Let's go! Dora the explorer…" Yaya sang.

"Ow, my feet…" Amu grumbled.

Soon, they reached Saaya's house, which they all entered. Amu was new to their school, so she had never been to Saaya's house for a party before and was surprised by how huge it was. It was even bigger than Ikuto and Utau's house, and there were a lot of people there. It looked like everyone in Amu's grade was there. Utau and Kukai looked like they were the oldest people there. And Ikura looked older, too.

Amu looked beside her to ask Ikura how old she was but Ikura seemed to have gone somewhere. "Where's Ikura?" Amu asked Kukai and Utau, who were still next to her.

"I don't know," Utau shrugged.

"Oh, well do any of you know how old she is?" Amu questioned. Amu remembered that Ikura looked really tall. Even taller than Kukai and Utau, who were both pretty tall for their age. So Ikura was probably at least as old as Utau and Kukai.

"Um, she's 16," Kukai answered.

"Oh, she's the same age as Ikuto," Utau commented.

"Yep," Kukai said.

"So…Ikura's your…date?" Utau asked Kukai.

"Um, yeah," Kukai replied.

"Then maybe you two should go over there and dance," Utau suggested, gesturing towards the dance floor with an evil look in her eye.

"I don't really like dancing that much…" Kukai said since he didn't want to dance with Ikura because he knew she was really Ikuto, and dancing with Ikuto would be kind of weird.

"No, you two should dance," Utau insisted.

"But…I don't know where Ikura is right now," Kukai explained.

"Then go find her." Utau demanded.

"Nah, it's okay," Kukai said.

"Go. Find. Her." Utau glared at Kukai and he flinched.

"Hey, Utau, do you want to dance?" Kukai questioned.

"I told you to dance with Ikura," Utau said.

"Please? Just one dance?" Kukai questioned.

"Well…okay," Utau gave in, and she and Kukai made their way to the dance floor, leaving Amu and Yaya standing at the entrance alone.

"Yaya wants to eat cupcakes!" Yaya exclaimed and ran off to the food table, leaving Amu standing at the entrance all alone.

Amu just stood there, not knowing what exactly to do. She didn't want to eat right then since she wasn't hungry. Amu didn't really want to dance, either. And Yaya, Utau, and Kukai all looked too busy to talk, since Utau and Kukai were dancing and Yaya was busy stuffing food in her mouth, which meant Amu had no one to talk to. There wasn't really anything to do other than eating, dancing, or talking. Amu looked around, but she couldn't find anyone she knew, until she spotted a glimpse of aqua hair towards the back of the room that looked like…Ikura!

_Maybe I'll go talk to her instead_ _of just standing here!_ Amu thought as she made her way over to Ikura.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

**(AMU POV)**

I made my way over to the back of the room, where Ikura was standing and looking around. Is she looking for someone? Maybe I'll ask her. When I approached her, I said, "Hi, Ikura-chan."

"Oh, hi, Amu!" Ikura giggled nervously. She didn't use a honorific, kind of like what Ikuto does. But she isn't as rude.

Wait a moment…why would she be nervous? I just noticed that up close, she looks a lot like Ikuto. Utau wasn't kidding when she said Ikura looks like Ikuto cross dressing. They have the same eyes and stuff…but their hair color is different. And Ikura looks really pretty. Her aqua hair looks like it is glowing and her eyes are like Ikuto's since you want to just stand there and stare at them. I don't stare at Ikuto or anything, but, um, I'm just saying Ikura is very pretty. Like model pretty.

"Um, is there something wrong?" Ikura questioned and I realized I had been staring at her. I could see a small smile creeping up on her face. It looks like Ikuto's creepy smiles. I bet if I was staring at him, he would give me a creepy smile like that.

"N-no, nothing!" I said. "I just was thinking…you look really pretty. And you look a LOT like Ikuto."

"Oh, really?" Ikura questioned. "Well, I should go now, I need some punch."

"I can get you some!" I offered.

"No, it's okay," Ikura said.

"No, I insist," I insisted.

"U-um, okay, Amu," Ikura hesitantly agreed. What, does she think I'm going to poison her punch or something? One thing I know for sure is that Ikuto doesn't stutter or act as nervous as Ikura. At least that's one thing that's different about the two of them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

**(IKUTO POV)**

I stood where I was as I waited for Amu to get my punch. I feel like if she's around me too much, she might figure out who "Ikura" really is. Of all the names Kukai had to pick…but I guess I can't really think of a better one. I wonder if I should ditch Amu and find Tadase like I'm supposed to. But them Amu might get suspicious…Ikura's supposed to be nice and friendly to Amu, so…I guess I can't ditch her. But I have to find Tadase before the party ends at…I think 3:00 in the morning tomorrow. I checked the huge grandfather clock. It's 11:35 now…so I have almost three and a half hours to find Tadase and get Amu away from me. Unless Tadase doesn't want to stay until early morning tomorrow and leaves early. Or worse…he doesn't show up. I didn't see him yet so far.

I didn't realize how horrible this plan is until just now. What if Tadase doesn't instantly fall in love with Ikura? Ikura is really pretty but Tadase isn't the type to fall for someone for their looks. Maybe I could try to act nice and like Amu so he'll like Ikura…but he might think I'm phony. Love at first sight or first meeting doesn't work in real life so Tadase probably won't fall in love with Ikura, who will be leaving tomorrow, anyways. Or maybe Tadase will somehow fall in love with Ikura but then she'll leave and he'll forget about her and go out with Amu. NO. THIS PLAN IS HORRIBLE. But I guess I can't do anything now except try to make the plan work.

I should face it. Tadase is going to ask Amu out no matter what and then they'll get married and have blonde and pink-haired children. I can just imagine it now…

_(NOTE: THIS STUFF IN ITALICS IS ONLY IKUTO'S IMAGINATION AND IS NOT REALLY HAPPENING)_

_Ding-dong._

_I rang the bell of an apartment somewhere and the door instantly was opened…by Amu. But something was different about her. She was older. She wasn't that wrinkly and old like a grandma, but she looked like she was in her twenties or something. And next to her came…Tadase? He looked older too, and he had a moustache. Haha, he looks funny with a moustache._

"_Mwommy!" I heard a soft voice cry, and I looked down at Amy's feet to see a tiny toddler grabbing onto the end of Amu's long, flowery dress that went up to her knees. It was a girl, with pale pink hair that looked blonde at the tips, and I could see blonde roots. She looked like a mix of Amu and Tadase. She had red eyes like Tadase, too._

"_Who's that?" I asked._

"_That's Miya. My daughter." Amu replied._

"_Yes, she's our daughter," Tadase nodded. Wait a moment…did that mean Tadase and Amu got married and had a cute little baby?! I should have stopped it…I should have told Amu I liked her more than Tadase ever could. Pink and blue haired babies would be way cuter._

"_NOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed dramatically, causing Amu and Tadase to give me weird looks._

_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_

**A/N: OMG IT'S SO LATE IN THE NIGHT IT'S ALMOST 10:30! Ikuto and Kukai's plan was doomed from the start. Now I must get off the computer, and pretty please review! I'll give you a virtual cookie! And a virtual hug from Ikuto AND Amu! ****:**DDD  



	10. Awkward Conversations

~*CHAPTER TEN*~

**(IKUTO POV)**

"Ikura, are you okay?" Amu came up to me holding two glasses of punch and handed one of them to me. "You looked like something horrible had happened." Something horrible DID happen. Amu and Tadase got married and had pink and blonde-haired children! I mean, it didn't actually happen, but I imagined it happening…

"Yeah, I'm fine," I grinned like nothing had happened.

My voice sounds all weird now because of this voice chip I stole from Utau's room to make my voice different. I remember giving it to her as a birthday present a long time ago from some joke shop and she liked to prank call people using it so no one could tell it was her. Since I gave it to her, I wouldn't call it stealing or anything. Besides, she would have let me borrow it anyway. Though I guess she might have asked me why I needed it, but I could just lie and say something like I wanted to prank call someone. She would have bought that.

"So…" Amu started. "Do you live around here or are you visiting from somewhere?"

Oh no. I hope she doesn't want to actually talk to me. What if she gets too close and sees that I look exactly like Ikuto and find out who I am? Cousins aren't even supposed to look alike anyways. Not THAT alike at least. "Oh, I need to go find someone so we can chat later," I said. That wasn't a lie since I needed to find Tadase. Though the plan will probably fail anyways, but at least I should try.

"You can stay here a little while," Amu said. "So, are you going to answer my question?"

"Yeah, I live in Canada but I'm visiting," I lied.

"Oh, ok," Amu nodded. "You know, you look a lot like Ikuto. Isn't that weird since cousins don't usually look alike? And you two look like you could be twins or something."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I answered. "I wouldn't say it's that weird or anything."

"You're nicer than Ikuto, though," Amu told me.

Hey, I just realized…Amu's being _nice_ to me. And she never does that. Maybe I can get her to be nicer to Ikuto, since we're kind of friends. Amu and Ikura are kind of friends. If she knew that Ikura was really Ikuto she'd probably hate me still, but as long as she doesn't find out, I'm okay.

"Have you ever tried being friends with Ikuto?" I questioned.

"F-friends?" Amu looked surprised by my question. "Why would I do that?"

"He probably wants to be friends with you," I said.

"I don't like him," Amu sighed.

"Why not?" I inquired.

"Because…" Amu began. "He's…rude."

"Rude? How?" I asked.

"Well, he wasn't THAT friendly when we first met…" Amu trailed off. "And he tried to pretend to be nice by hiring these kids to fight and then he breaks up the fight. But he's not really nice. It sounds to me like he just wants me to think he's nice since he's annoyed that not everyone likes him."

I never thought of that before. If I really acted nice, I could be friends with Amu. Though I have been nice before. I was the one who saved Amu and Utau when they were ponytailcuffed and I got grounded for that. But still, I should try to be her friend more, and then everyone in the school will like me as usual! And if I get her to _like_ like me, then every girl in the school will _like_ like me! Excluding Utau, since she's my sister and her brother complex had gone away, and Yaya and Rima since we know each other well and are kind of friends.

"Remember when he saved you and Utau when you were ponytailcuffed and he took the blame?" I reminded Amu.

"How did you know that happened?" Amu asked. Oops. I shouldn't have said that.

"Utau told me," I said.

"But I thought Utau didn't know you before today," Amu said.

"Yeah, she told me while you went to get punch," I lied.

"Oh, okay." Amu believed me. She seems pretty gullible since she believes a lot of things. Utau was suspicious about Ikura, but Amu didn't seem suspicious at all.

"Anyways, you know Ikuto was actually being nice to you that time. Maybe you should try being nicer to him. I think you two just…got off on the wrong foot." I used a lame saying.

"Maybe I will," Amu grinned.

Wow. I just got Amu to try to be nice to me. Amazing. Now all I need to do is find Tadase and try to make the plan work and then I can leave and Ikura will never make an appearance again. I scanned the room for Tadase and spotted him next to the punch table talking to Nagihiko.

"Um, I should go now, but it was nice talking to you Amu!" I said and left quickly.

"Nice talking to you too!" Amu called before I left.

I made my way to where Tadase was and said, "Hello!"

"Hello, may I ask who you are?" Tadase asked politely. I just remembered that I don't even know Tadase, well, _Ikura_ doesn't know Tadase. Let's just hope I'm pretty enough for Tadase to like me more than he likes Amu. That's a sentence I never thought I would think.

"Um, I'm Ikura," I said.

"That's a strange name," Nagihiko commented. "Sounds a lot like Ikuto."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" I replied.

"And you look exactly like Ikuto, too," Tadase added.

"Um, can I talk to you?" I asked Tadase. "In private?"

"Sure," Tadase said and I led him over to a corner where there wasn't anyone around. "So what do you want to tell me?"

I just realized I don't know what to say. What am I supposed to do? Maybe I'll just confess to him and see what he says.

"Um, Hotori-kun, I really like you and…will you go out with me?" I tried to make big puppy dog eyes. That felt really weird to say, especially to Tadase of all people.

"That's nice, but there's someone else I like," Tadase said. Did he just reject me? Well, I guess he doesn't even know me so there's no reason for him to accept me, but still!

"Oh, ok," I nodded.

"And by the way," Tadase said. "How do you know my name?"

"Well, everyone does," I answered. "You know, since you're really popular."

"But do you even go to Seiyo?" Tadase questioned.

"Yes, you probably just didn't see me there before," I replied. That wasn't really a lie since I do go to Seiyo, but he has seen me before. Just not dressed as a girl. "I'll leave now. It was nice meeting you."

I ran off before Tadase could answer. I can't believe no one here (except Kukai) can tell that "Ikura" is really Ikuto. Or maybe they can, but they're just playing along with me. Nah, probably not. But I thought Utau might figure out who I really am. I'm glad she didn't.

"Hey, Ikura!" A voice called and I turned around to see Utau.

"Oh, hello!" I greeted her. If Utau gets too close, I'm sure she'll find out that I'm cross dressing. She is my sister, after all.

"So where are you visiting from? Or do you live around here or something?" Utau inquired.

"Canada," I replied, not making eye contact since I was afraid she might find out who I really am.

"Really? Kukai told me you were from Australia." Utau pretended to be surprised. I think she's on to me now.

"Oh, you must have heard wrong. I visited Australia, thought, and I came here from Australia. So that's what Kukai must have meant." I made up an excuse. Maybe I should have told Kukai earlier where Ikura would be from so we'd say the same answer. Or maybe Kukai should have told me.

"Maybe I did hear wrong. Or maybe you both are lying and you live in Japan," Utau said nonchalantly. But she still sounded EVIL.

"Um, I really should go now…" I started to walk away, but Utau grabbed my wrist.

"No, you should stay!" Utau protested. She was squeezing my hand really hard with her death grip.

"Oh, but–" I started.

"No buts!" Utau said. That's what teachers and parents say all the time.

"Um..." I began, but then Kukai came up to us. "Hey, Kukai, do you want to dance?" I asked and dragged Kukai over to the dance floor before Utau could say anything else.

When we got to the dance floor, we didn't actually dance, but I just stood in the crowd so Utau couldn't see me.

"What was that?" Kukai questioned.

"I needed to get away from Utau. She was asking too many questions," I explained. "By the way, I'm from Canada. NOT Australia."

"But I like Australia better," Kukai complained.

"Well, I'm Ikura so I should get to pick where I live." I argued.

"Fine," Kukai gave in. "Now can I go?"

"Sure," I said and Kukai walked away leaving me standing there on the dance floor. I looked around and saw Utau and Amu chatting near the food table. Tadase and Nagihiko were standing somewhere else chatting. Now there's no one near me who knows me so no one will want to talk to me.

"Ikurin?" Yaya tapped me on the shoulder. Yaya knows me. I think I jinxed myself by saying that no one will want to talk to me.

"I'm Ikura, not Ikurin, silly!" I laughed and tried to sound as un-Ikuto-like as possible. Maybe I should have thought of a name that wasn't as close to Ikuto. Ikura is pretty close to Ikuto.

"But you look just like Ikurin!" Yaya said. I don't like her nickname for me. Ikurin? Out of all the things she could have called me, why did she have to pick that?

"We are cousins, so we're related," I told her.

"You're not Ikura. You're Ikurin!" Yaya pointed at me.

"No, my name is Ikura. Besides, IKUTO is a boy and I'm a girl, obviously. And our hair looks different," I gestured towards my wavy turquoise hair.

"Oh, okay!" Yaya seemed to believe me and she skipped away. I checked the time on the big grandfather clock that was hanging on the wall. It was 12:15. I don't want to stay THAT long here and I don't need to do anything else since I already talked to Tadase, so I'll leave now.

"It's getting late, let's go," A hand grabbed me and started leading me out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Hi! Fun fact**: **Guess why I picked Ikura to be Ikuto's fake name? It's because, you know there's He-man and She-ra? Those TV characters? If you don't know them, they're like the strongest man and woman in the universe or something, I'm not sure. And She-ra is the girl. So I added a "ra" at the end of Ikuto and took away the "to" so I get…Ikura! And thanksies for the reviews last chapter, you all get virtual hugs! Haha thanksies sounds funny. I wanted to use that word, thanksies. I titled this chapter "Awkward Conversations" since Ikuto had conversations with people and he felt all awkward-ish pretending to be Ikura! Anyways, please review! :)**


	11. No More Ikura

~*CHAPTER ELEVEN*~

**(IKUTO POV)**

I looked and saw that the hand that was leading me belonged to Utau. When we got outside, she let go of my hand. There wasn't anyone else outside but us.

"Ikuto?" Utau asked.

"What?" I asked, and realized Utau had called me Ikuto. "My name's _Ikura_."

"No, it's not." Utau said. "And don't try lying to me. I know you're just Ikuto. Why are you cross dressing anyways?"

"I'm not –" I stopped. There was no point in lying to Utau since she wasn't going to believe me anyway. But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell her the real reason I'm cross dressing. "How did you know?"

"It was pretty obvious. Cousins don't even look that alike and you look way too much like Ikuto," Utau explained. "And that is my dress you're wearing. The one _Ikuto_ was borrowing."

Oh. I didn't realize I was wearing Utau's dress. Maybe I shouldn't have asked to borrow her dress and I should have just took it instead and returned it later. That would have been better. But I guess Utau probably would have found out anyways even if I wore a different dress. She is my sister after all.

"And you stole my voice chip, too," Utau added. "The voice you're using was the same one that the voice chip makes."

"I gave it to you, so it's not exactly _stealing_. Besides, I'll give it back," I told her. Maybe I should have gotten another voice chip from a joke shop or somewhere. Utau made a lot of prank calls using that voice chip, so she must have realized that Ikura's voice sounds the same as the voice the voice chip makes you have.

"Now answer me," Utau said. "Why are you cross dressing?"

"I…lost a bet." I lied

"You lost a bet?" Utau looked like she wasn't sure if she should believe me or not.

"Yeah," I replied.

"To who?" She asked.

"Kukai." I answered. If she asks Kukai if I lost a bet to him so I had to cross dress, he would tell her that it's true. He knows I wouldn't want anyone to know the real reason that I'm cross dressing.

"What was the bet?" Utau questioned me.

"He bet me that I couldn't beat him in a race," I said. "But my foot got hurt earlier that day, so I couldn't run very well and I lost." I don't want to say I lost to someone younger than me when I actually tried and wasn't injured or anything.

"How did your foot get hurt?" Why won't Utau stop asking me questions?

"I accidentally dropped something on it."

"Dropped what?"

"A box."

"A box of what?"

"Markers."

"And that made your foot get hurt?"

"Yes. There were a lot of markers and the box was pretty heavy."

"How many markers were in the box?"

"I don't know. Now will you stop with all the questions?" I asked, getting a little irritated by all the questions.

"…fine. But you better not be lying!" To my surprise, Utau actually agreed to stop asking me questions.

"Utau?" I asked.

"What?" She answered.

"How long did you know I was Ikura?" I inquired.

"I figured it out when I first saw "Ikura" and Kukai in your room. It was too obvious," Utau told me.

"Then why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I knew you probably wouldn't want anyone to know that you're cross dressing," Utau replied. "So I decided to keep your secret."

This is one of those rare times I really appreciate Utau. Even if she is annoying and stubborn sometimes, she's still a great sister. I almost want to give her a big hug right now, but I won't.

"I'll tell Amu that Ikura went home already," Utau said before walking back inside Saaya's house.

I started to make my way home. It must be around 12:30 by now. When I had made it to my house, I tried opening the door but it was locked. Of course. Utau locked it before we left for the party. I reached for the doorbell, but pulled my hand away when I realized that then my parents or Amu's parents would wake up if I rang the bell. And then Amu, Utau, and I would get in trouble. Oh, and they would see "Ikura" here and want to know why I'm cross dressing. They know I don't have a cousin named Ikura. If Amu's parents answer the door, they would probably ask my parents if Ikura existed and they would say no. And I don't have a key to open the door myself, so…what do I do?

I turned and leaned against the wall and I heard the doorbell ring. I didn't press the doorbell, so how did it ring? Did I just lean against it? I turned and saw that, I did lean against the doorbell. I feel stupid now. I just hope no one woke up…

I heard footsteps coming closer and the doorknob started to shake a little. I remember the same thing happening before leaving to Saaya's party, when Amu's mom opened the door and we hid in the closet. The same feeling of fear came, and I was about to run and hide behind the side of the house when the door opened before I could move.

But the person who was standing in front of me wasn't one of my parents or Amu's parents. It was Amu's little sister, Ami.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**(NORMAL POV)**

"Ikura was feeling tired, so she decided to go home," Utau came over to Amu.

"It's getting late. I think we should go home, too," Amu said, and Utau nodded.

Utau and Amu made our way outside and started walking back home. They walked back in silence and when we got to the house, Utau opened the door and both of them went to their rooms and climbed straight into bed. It was almost 1:00 and they were pretty tired.

Ikuto wasn't in bed, though. He pulled out his journal and started to write. He hadn't written in it for a while, so he decided to write in it now.

**IKUTO'S JOURNAL:**

_Dear Journal,_

_Today was…interesting. I ditched school and went to Saaya's party. But I didn't go to her party as me. I came dressed as "Ikura". Ikura is me…cross dressing. There is no real Ikura. I don't know why Kukai picked that name for me, he just did. I pretended to be Ikura because Tadase was going to confess to Amu, but I thought if he started to like Ikura, he might not confess to her. I realized later that this was a stupid plan since Tadase didn't even know who "Ikura" is before now. _

_Oh, and I snuck out to Saaya's party. I was grounded for breaking into the neighbor's house. Though it wasn't really breaking in and I was saving Utau and Amu, so it's not my fault. But I took the blame so no one knows what really happened, that Utau and Amu's ponytails got cuffed together. I won't explain how right now, though. Anyways, Utau found out who "Ikura" really was, but she didn't tell anyone. I'm not that surprised since I thought she would find out sometime. I can't believe I'm saying this about Utau, but that was nice of her, to not tell anyone my secret. Amu barely suspected a thing, though. She seems pretty dense to me. _

_Then I was going home from the party when I realized I didn't have any keys. I accidentally rang the doorbell, but luckily Ami was the one who answered it. I told her that I was Ikura, Ikuto and Utau's cousin who left her jacket at their house, and she actually believed me. Although, she is just a little kid. I also asked her not to tell anyone I came since they already know, and she agreed not to tell. I told her to go to bed and I can leave the house myself. I don't know how she could have been awake that late, though. But I didn't say anything. And, I failed to get Tadase to not confess to Amu. He didn't say anything to her yet, at least I think he didn't, but he probably will soon. And Amu will probably say yes since I think she kind of likes him. But I don't care THAT much since I don't love Amu or anything. It's just a small crush, and I just want her to like me instead of hate me. That's all, so I think I'll survive if Amu and Tadase start dating or something. Good night, journal._

_~Ikuto_

Ikuto hid his journal and then returned Utau's dress and silver flats he borrowed to her closet. She was asleep already, so she didn't notice when he entered her room and put the dress back in her closet. Then he took his turquoise wig and hid it in the very back of his closet where no one would find it. Ikuto never wanted to see "Ikura" again.

* * *

**A/N: Okies, the chapter's done! So now "Ikura" is gone! Unless she makes a surprise appearance in chapter 47…no, she's gone. And there isn't going to be 47 chapters anyways. Did I just write a whole day in six chapters? I'm pretty sure chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 all are in the same day. Weird…Anyways, please review! :DDD**


	12. The Truth

~*CHAPTER 12*~

_I'm just a kid who's four! Every day I grow some more! I like exploring, I'm Caillou!_

Ikuto woke up to hear that song playing. Utau had changed his ringtone to the theme song for some American kiddie show a few months ago and Ikuto hadn't bothered changing it. It was really annoying, but Ikuto didn't want to get out of his bed.

_So many things to do, each day there's something new–_

The music suddenly stopped because Ikuto had got up from his bed and slammed his hand down on the talk button to end the music. Ikuto wondered who would call him this early in the morning. It was only, what, around 6:00?!

"Hello?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Kukai? Why are you calling me this early in the morning?" Ikuto snapped.

"Whoa, calm down." Kukai chuckled. "I just thought of a question I'd like to ask you."

"What?"

"Why exactly do you love Amu? I mean, you just met her and –"

"I don't love her," Ikuto answered. "It's just a small crush. I just want _her_ to like me."

"Why?" Kukai inquired.

"Because no one I've ever met before has hated me the moment they met me." Ikuto answered. "Now I think I'll go to bed now." Ikuto hung up.

Ikuto walked over to his bed but stopped in front of it. He was already awake and it was probably past six already, so he decided not to go back to sleep. He instead walked over to his closet, where he'd hid his journal, and sat down and started writing in it.

_Dear Journal,_

_I do not love Amu. I guess I kind of like her, but I don't LOVE her or anything. Sure, I enjoy teasing her and all, and I like her blush and when she smiles, though she never smiles at me. But I don't LOVE her or anything. I'm never going to LOVE anyone. Besides, I haven't even known Amu that long. I just want to get her to like me since I don't want her to hate me. And I didn't really do anything that bad to her, anyways. So why doesn't she like me? Anyways, I wrote this since it sounded earlier like I did LOVE her, and you probably thought that so I just wanted to explain to you that I don't. Oh great, now I'm talking to a journal. Or writing to one. I'm explaining stuff to a journal. I feel weird now, and I don't really have anything else to say, so I'm done._

_~Ikuto_

Ikuto closed his journal when he wondered what time it was. He thought it was around 6:15, but he never actually looked at the clock in his room. He walked over to his bedside clock and checked the time. It was…4:27? Ikuto remembered that Utau had also changed the time on his clock for some reason so it was wrong. And he hadn't bothered to change it. Ikuto got up and walked into the room next to his, which he found out was Amu's room. Amu was asleep, so she didn't notice him. She breathed slowly and her face looked peaceful. It looked like she was even smiling a tiny bit.

Ikuto realized he had been staring at Amu sleep, so he just checked Amu's clock, which read 6:25, and walked out of the room, gently closing the door. He didn't notice that he had dropped his journal on the floor before he left.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Amu made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where she got a bowl of cereal and sat down at the dining table to eat her breakfast. Utau and Ikuto were already seated at the table eating their breakfast. Soon Amu's and Ikuto and Utau's parents came downstairs too, followed by Ami.

"Amu, are you excited for the class trip today?" Amu's mom, Midori, asked.

_Oh, shoot! I totally forgot! _Amu thought. _Good thing I packed early._

"I thought your teacher would have reminded you at school yesterday, since the class trip is today. You _were_ at school, right?" Midori questioned, and Amu could tell that her mom knew she wasn't at school tomorrow. Her mom somehow always found out when Amu had done something she wasn't supposed to do.

Amu could remember the times Ami or herself had misbehaved and her mom had found out. When Ami was secretly eating cookies before dinner even though dessert was supposed to be last, her mom had found out. When Amu had spilled orange juice on their new white rug when she was younger, her mom had found out and known where the rug was hidden. When Amu's dad, Tsukomo, bet Midori that he could go a week without eating candy and then he ate a candy later when Amu's mom wasn't home, she had found out. Amu sometimes wondered if her mom hired ninjas to stalk Ami, her dad, and herself.

"Of c-course I was at school tomorrow. W-why wouldn't I be?" Amu asked, pretending she hadn't ditched school the previous day. Unfortunately, Amu was a horrible liar to people she knew well, like her family and friends. She always started stuttering whenever she lied.

"You shouldn't lie, Amu," Midori said.

"The school called and said that you weren't at school yesterday," Tsukomo said.

"Yeah, and _you two_ weren't at school either," Souko said, pointing at Ikuto and Utau.

"Did you really think we weren't going to notice?" Aruto asked. "And Ami said that someone that looked like Ikuto came last night from a party," He added. "I'm guessing Amu and Utau were there, too."

Amu and Utau nodded.

Ikuto had told Ami not to tell anyone he was there. Or "Ikura" had said that. But he should have known Ami would have let it slip. Besides, she didn't know what was wrong with anyone knowing "Ikura" being there since Amu, Utau, and Ikuto were grounded, not her. And Ami didn't know "Ikura" was really Ikuto.

"You know we are going to punish you for this…and you better listen this time," Midori said.

"We know," Utau answered.

Amu remembered how the three of them got grounded. For going into the neighbor's house without the neighbors knowing. Amu remembered that Utau and she had broken in, but Ikuto was only there to help them. He didn't break into the neighbor's house; he just saved Amu and Utau's life. But Ikuto was still getting blamed for it.

"Wait!" Amu cried, and everyone in the room looked at her. "It wasn't Ikuto's fault, so you can't punish him. He shouldn't have been grounded in the first place."

"What are you doing?" Utau whispered.

"I'm telling them what really happened," Amu told her, loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear.

"Utau and I broke into the house…because we were handcuffed together. Actually our ponytails were cuffed together and the key was on the roof…" Amu told everyone the story of what really had happened, and how she and Utau could have gotten hurt if Ikuto hadn't saved them.

After Amu had finished, everyone else in the room was quiet for a minute. Until Midori spoke up. "Wow, Amu!" She said.

"Huh?" Amu asked, confused.

"You came out and told the truth," Tsukomo said.

"So…that means…we're not getting punished?" Ikuto questioned.

"No, you are," Aruto said. "But I'm proud of you for helping your sister and Amu."

"What's our punishment?" Utau questioned.

"We'll tell you later, after Amu's class trip for two days. Now you should get going for school so you're not late," Souko said, so Amu went and got her one suitcase for her class trip and then was about to go outside when she remembered something. Her diary. She ran upstairs to her room and grabbed the diary lying on the ground without bothering to look at it and shoved it into her suitcase. Then she went outside and started walking to school with Ikuto and Utau.

"Amu?" Ikuto asked after she was outside.

"Yes?" Amu asked…nicely, much to Ikuto's surprise. She didn't respond with an "I never let you call me by my first name!" or a rude "What?!" like Ikuto thought she might. Then again, he had asked her politely too, so of course she would respond politely.

"Why did you tell them that I saved you?" Ikuto questioned. "I thought someone as rude as you would probably just let me take the blame, and you do hate me, so…why?"

"Because I didn't want you to get in trouble for something that wasn't your fault," Amu answered. "And I'm not rude!" She hit him lightly on the shoulder, but she didn't sound mean. She just sounded…playful. Almost if she was friends with Ikuto. "You know, I don't hate you _that _much," She added. It wasn't a lie, since he had saved her and wasn't THAT rude anyways, so she decided to be a little bit nicer to him. But only a little bit.

"Excuse me?" Ikuto pretended he hadn't heard. She had said it really quietly.

"I SAID I DON'T HATE YOU THAT MUCH!" Amu practically screamed in his ear.

"Ow, did I tell you before that I don't like it when people scream in my ear?" Ikuto questioned.

"Yeah, I think you did," Amu said.

"Then why did you scream in my ear?" Ikuto inquired, but Amu didn't reply and kept on walking.

Although Ikuto didn't really care that Amu didn't reply. Maybe she didn't like him yet, but she did say that she doesn't hate him that much. So he made progress.

* * *

**A/N: Hiya, peeps! Did that sound weird? THE PARENTS FOUND OUT. THEY ALWAYS FIND OUT IN THE END. Remember to always be honest and tell your parents the truth! Did that also sound weird? Anyways, for some odd reason I thought I updated two days ago or something but then I checked and it was like ten days ago…so I wrote the chapter since I want to update AROUND every week. Or earlier if I feels like it and has time to. I wrote "feels" on purpose. :) And that song in the beginning was the Caillou theme song, though you probably already knew that. Or did you? I guess you might not…I don't know…so I'm telling you in case you're curious. Please review! :D**


	13. Mental Lists

_**~*Chapter 13*~**_

**A/N: Sanjo-sensei is Yukari, Kairi's older sister and Utau's manager, in case you forgot. :D I'm saying this since she'd in this chapter, and just case you don't know who I'm talking about right away…I don't know, Sanjo-sensei sounds confusing to me since not everyone knows her last name…at least I think some people don't. I dunno. XP So, just saying she'd Kairi's older sister and Utau's manager. And she becomes a teacher at Seiyo! She's mean-ish and strict! Okay, now on with the chapter! XD**

* * *

Amu reached the school grounds and made her way to her classroom. She put her suitcase down by her desk and sat down in her seat. Most of her other classmates were already in the classroom, but a few weren't.

Sometimes she wondered if she was being a little too hard on Ikuto. If she should be nicer to him. Amu made a mental list of mean things Ikuto had done to her:

_1. Ikuto called me a strawberry when I blush, since my face turns the same color as my hair._

_2. He called me rude._

_3. He got me to "lose my cool"._

_4. He made me late for school on my first day when I was trying to help him get on time – and he didn't end up being late!_

_5. He used my first name when I told him not to._

_6. He listened to loud, irritating music in the middle of the night, and I couldn't sleep well._

_7. He paid little kids to make him look like a "hero" or something._

Amu couldn't think of any more mean things he had done to her, so she stopped her "mental list". Although Amu didn't really find all of those mean. The first one wasn't mean, just teasing. Amu was being rude to him, so he called her that, so the second shouldn't really count either. And Amu knew the third one was mostly her fault. And the fifth one wasn't exactly mean, and Amu didn't really mind anyways.

For the seventh one…Amu guessed it wasn't exactly mean or anything, he just paid two kids to pretend to fight so he could break it up. Amu didn't know why, but no one else but Utau, Rima, and her saw it and they knew what had happened, so nothing bad had happened. Maybe Ikuto was part of some drama club where he had to act as the teacher who broke up a fight, and he paid the kids to help him practice or something. Even if he didn't pay them for that, Amu chose to not count that one as rude.

Amu decided to count the fourth and sixth one since those were impolite. Amu made a new mental checklist of mean things Ikuto had done to her:

_1. He made me late for school on my first day when I was trying to help him get on time – and he didn't end up being late!_

_2. He listened to loud, irritating music in the middle of the night, and I couldn't sleep well._

So Amu had perfectly good reasons to hate him! And she told him she didn't hate him THAT much. She wasn't lying. It was actually more like she strongly disliked him, she decided. Amu wondered what nice things Ikuto had done. Amu made another mental checklist of nice things Ikuto had done to her:

_1. Ikuto saved me from falling off the neighbor's roof when I was" ponytailcuffed"._

_2. Ikuto took some blame for breaking into the neighbor's house so I wouldn't get in more trouble than I already was._

_3. MOST of the time when I'm not friendly to him, he's nice (or at least not as mean) back._

Amu finished her mental list. She had two mean things about him, and three nice things. And the nice things were far nicer than the mean things were mean, as weird as that sounds. Ikuto had saved her life when he saved her from falling off the roof of the neighbors' house! And he had done some other nice things, too.

_I guess I am being a little too harsh on him_, Amu thought.

Amu decided to be nicer to him, and maybe not dislike him at all. Maybe try to be his friend or something like that. But that could wait until after her two-day class trip, since she wouldn't be seeing him again until after that.

_Rrringg!_

The school bell startled Amu out of her thoughts. Just as the bell rang, Nikaidou walked into the classroom.

"Alright, who's ready for the class trip?" Nikaidou questioned.

"We are!" The class chorused, like a bunch of kindergarteners when anyone asks them when they're ready for something.

Amu made a mental list of times she'd heard people say "We are!" at the same time like a group of little kids:

_1. Someone's birthday party the whole class was invited to. There was a clown who asked, "Who's ready to hear some funny jokes?" The kids had answered, "We are!"_

_2. A concert her parents had taken her to. The singer had asked, "Who's ready to rock?" The crowd had replied, "We are!"_

_3. A class field trip to an amusement park. Some teacher had asked, "Who's ready to have fun?" And the students had said, "We are!"_

_4. A cooking class her mom had enrolled her in for one day. The cooking teacher had asked, "Who's ready to make some cupcakes?" And the people there had told her, "We are!"_

_5. A party at her dad's workplace that she attended. The boss of the company had asked–_

"Amu, are you coming or not? Everyone else is already walking to the bus," A voice said, and Amu looked up from her seat to see Rima standing in front of her.

"Oh, right, I'm coming," Amu said and walked with Rima to the bus. They got there as the last student in their class (excluding them) went into the bus. Since they were the last ones to board the bus, they got the seat in the front, right behind the driver. Rima took the window seat and Amu sat in the aisle seat.

They sat in silence for the first ten minutes of the bus ride until one student asked the bus driver if he could play some music, to which the driver replied that he had no songs.

"Hey…" Saaya stood up from her seat. "How about I sing?"

After she said that there was a series of "No, don't!"s and "We don't need music!"s as the students remembered what had happened last time Saaya sang, except for Amu who had never been on a bus with Saaya before. The other students had flashbacks of what happened the last time Saaya sang on a bus…

_Flashback_

_The students on the bus, who were 5__th__ graders at the time, were going on a field trip to a museum, when Saaya offered to sing. The students had never heard her sing before, so they agreed, and Saaya started singing._

"_OHHH SAYY CAN YOU SEEEEEE?" Saaya screamed at the top of her lungs._

"_What is she singing?" One student, Seiichiro, asked._

"_I think it's America's national anthem," The student sitting next to him answered._

"_It doesn't sound very good," Seiichiro mumbled._

"_It does sound good – if you hear it sung by someone who can actually sing," Seiichiro's bus partner explained._

_Meanwhile, Saaya continued singing as loudly as she could, "AND THE ROCKETT'S REEEED GLAREEEEEEE…"_

_The students covered their ears and tried to block out the sound, but failed. Saaya was singing up front, very close to the bus driver, who couldn't take it anymore and covered his ears…causing the bus to swerve off to the side of the road and hit a tree…almost. Saaya nearly fell when the bus swerved, and stopped singing for a moment to regain her balance. The bus almost hit the tree but the bus driver managed to remove his hands from his ears and take control of the bus before it crashed into the tree, much to everyone's relief. Just to be on the safe side, Saaya didn't sing at all the rest of the ride._

_End of flashback_

"Saaya, there will be no singing," Sanjo-sensei, or Yukari, the teacher who was with them on the bus, said sternly. Saaya opened her mouth to protest but closed it again when Yukari sent her a glare.

"Y-yes, sensei…" Saaya mumbled and sat back down. Yukari was one teacher that managed to intimidate her. Well, she managed to intimidate everyone, but that included Saaya.

"Sanjo-sensei?" A boy sitting behind the teacher questioned.

"Yes?" Yukari turned around.

"You said Saaya shouldn't sing alone, but can everyone in the bus sing…together?" The boy asked.

"Sing together?" Yukari thought about it. Suddenly she smiled slightly and answered, "Fine, but I get to pick the song!"

Everyone was surprised, for two reasons, because Yukari smiled, and because she actually let them sing. Amu wondered if there was something wrong with the teacher today since she sounded happier than usual…and Amu knew she could be grouchy sometimes since Yukari was one of her teachers. Everyone in the bus was silent until the kid who had asked Yukari if they could sing shattered the silence.

"Yessss!" The boy cheered and high-fived the people sitting near him.

"We're singing, 'The Wheels on the Bus'!" Yukari said, and Amu once again wondered if there was something wrong with Yukari since she was sounding so happy and…not like herself. Not that Amu minded.

"THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND!" Everyone in the bus knew this song, so they all joined in. With the exception of Rima, who didn't want to embarrass herself, Tadase, who just sat and listened, Amu, since singing on a bus like a bunch of little kids wouldn't be in her "Cool and Spicy" character, and a few other students who weren't interested in singing loudly with the other kids.

"Is Yukari going crazy or something?" The student sitting in the aisle seat next to Amu inquired. She was one of the few students that weren't interested in singing.

"It does seem like there's something wrong with her today…" Amu replied.

"Maybe buses make her like this or something," Rima suggested and leaned her head against the window.

"Maybe…" Amu trailed off.

"THE BABY ON THE BUS GOES 'WA WA WA'…" The students were still singing.

Amu leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes, trying to tune out everyone's singing. She managed to fall asleep somehow as the other students continued singing.

* * *

**A/N: Done! And I updated faster than usual! I just imagined a bunch of kiddies (hehe kiddies...I like that word) on a bus...singing! Weird, huh? O.o But I decided to make it happen! And for the "mental lists"...I just thought of it and I made Amu do that. Also weird. But I like lists, and most weird stuff. ;P So…please review and tell me what you thought! :-D (No one does noses for smiley faces anymore, do they? Well, I wanted to try it. :-P)**


	14. Camp Fun

●～*CHAPTER 14*～●

_Recap_

_Amu leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes, trying to tune out everyone's singing. She managed to fall asleep somehow as the other students continued singing._

_End of Recap_

* * *

**(AMU POV)**

"Wake up." Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I could tell by the voice that it was Rima. I am pretty much awake now, but I don't want to open my eyes or I'll be fully awake. Actually, I want to sleep again. I'm trying to get back to sleep. I was having a nice dream where I got free rainbow-flavored ice cream. I had always thought rainbow wasn't even an ice cream flavor up till now, but I guess I was wrong.

"Wake up!" I got tapped on the shoulder again. I don't feel like waking up now. Well, I AM awake anyways. My eyes are just closed and I'm almost asleep again…I miss my dream with rainbow-flavored ice cream. It didn't taste like a rainbow of different flavors like you might think, with cherry for red, orange for orange, strawberry for pink, and other flavors with different colors. No, it tasted like, well, I can't really describe it. But it tasted amazing! Better than any other ice cream flavor I've ever tasted before. Maybe I'll ask for rainbow-flavored ice cream next time I go to an ice cream shop. If it's real. Hopefully it is.

"Is rainbow flavored ice cream real?" I mumbled to myself.

"Huh? What kind of dream are you having? Just wake up already." Rima answered and poked me on the shoulder again.

I'm almost falling back asleep again. I just need to keep thinking about rainbow-flavored ice cream and I'll get that dream again. And be able to taste it again! Yum!

"WAKE UP ALREADY!" Rima screamed in my ear with an extra hard poke on my shoulder that slightly hurt and I opened my eyes, now fully awake. I was going to have that awesome dream again if she hadn't shouted in my ear like that. It was loud. This reminds me of that time when I was waking Ikuto up for school so he wouldn't be late and he refused to get out of bed so finally I screamed in his ear. And he woke up after I did that. I guess screaming in someone's ear is an effective way to wake them up.

"I'm awake, okay?" I mumbled.

"Good. We're here already," Rima told me.

We had arrived at the place where we were having our class trip and students were filing out of the bus. Rima and I also got off the bus and to wherever the place our class trip is. I don't know the name of the place.

"I'm not sure what the place where our class trip is either," Rima said as if she had magical mind-reading powers.

The students in our grade were crowded outside the buses standing or walking around and talking to each other. I couldn't find anyone I knew other than Rima here so I just stood around with her until Yukari blew a whistle very loudly and shouted so everyone could hear, "Shut up and listen while your principal Tsukasa speaks!"

"You should tell them to quiet down or something, not to shut up…" Some other teacher that had really curly shoulder-length hair whispered in her ear. Her hair was so curly it was like a coil, and I felt an urge to pull on it.

"Whatever, it's not like they care," Yukari grumbled in response.

"Okay kiddies, listen up!" Tsukasa said. "We are at Camp Fun and we are going to have lots of fun here!" Camp Fun? What kind of a name was that?

"Is that the real name?" The student standing a few people behind me seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Yes, that's the real name," Tsukasa answered. "Now I will tell you about what we're going to do here! We'll be making crafts like glittery horseshoes, playing sports such as lake volleyball, and we'll also do a bunch of other fun stuff today and tomorrow!"

I wonder what lake volleyball is. Maybe it's beach volleyball except played by a lake instead of on a beach? That might make sense since there's probably a lake here but I know there isn't a beach here.

"And at night we get to sleep under the stars!" Tsukasa announced. There were some groans and cheers after this. I didn't really say anything, since, well, I don't mind sleeping "under the stars" outside that much. Except for the bugs. I do NOT want to be eaten by giant spiders in the middle of the night.

"If it makes you feel any better, we won't be sleeping outside. We'll be in cabins, but the roofs are made of clear glass, so it'll be like we're under the stars," Tsukasa added. Oh, good, now no bugs will eat me since I'll be indoors. The people who had groaned earlier cheered and the people who had cheered previously sighed a little. I didn't make any sound since bugs can go into cabins, too. But I'd rather be in a cabin that be outdoors, so I'm happy.

"Everyone has been placed in a cabin of up to ten people we randomly picked. I'll call out your cabin and the names of everyone in there, and you must come up here. When everyone in your cabin is together you may go to your cabin. The girls' cabins are on the path to your left and the boys' are to the right. Go to the cabin which has your cabin number on it. Oh, and make sure to listen carefully for your cabin number." Tsukasa instructed.

I wonder who will be in my cabin with me. Hopefully Rima will be since she's the only girl I'm friends with. I mean, there are some other girls I've spoken too, but none I know well.

"Cabin number one is Miki-san, Watana-san…" Tsukasa started reading the names. "Okay, that's it." My name wasn't called and Rima's wasn't either! So I still have a chance of being in the same cabin as her. "Oh wait, there's one more name for cabin one…it's kind of hard to read…oh, Mashiro-san, you're in cabin one." There goes my chance of being in the same cabin as Rima.

"Too bad we're not in the same cabin Amu," Rima sighed before going up to join her cabin mates.

"Cabin number two: Hotori-kun…" Tsukasa continued reading the names.

_-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-_

Utau opened the door to her house and stepped inside. She had just gotten back home from school when her phone rang.

"Hello?" Utau picked up the phone.

"Hi, Utau, I need to ask you a favor," Yukari was speaking on the other end.

"A favor?" Utau questioned, wondering what kind of a favor her manager would want.

"Yes, you know how all the eighth graders at your school are on their class trip?" Yukari asked. "Well, there's been a small problem…" Yukari explained the problem to Utau and Utau listened to her. "So, can you do it? Please?" Yukari inquired when she was done.

"Alright, I'll do it," Utau agreed. "But you owe me!"

"Okay, Utau, thanks," Yukari said. "Bye." She hung up.

Utau put her phone away and started to pack a suitcase with some clothes, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and other things she would need. It took around twenty minutes to pack, and when she was done she went outside to see a black limo waiting for her in front of her house. She placed her luggage inside and then entered the limo. Utau didn't really mind doing the favor Yukari had asked of her that much. She would get to miss a day of school, and get to do some "fun" activities with eighth graders if she wanted.

Yep, Utau didn't mind filling in for a teacher at Camp Fun that much.

* * *

**A/N: Camp Fun. I am so creative with my names. :D It's like 1:25 in the morning in the US but I'm on vacation far far away so it's around lunchtime for me. XD I barely got to use the computer all week and I had to retype this chapter so it took me a while to get it done, but I did it! I like the word yep. Don't you like the word yep? I want to eat rainbow-flavored ice cream. My hair is up in a ballerina bun right now. It is, really. ^-^ Um, anyways, please review! **


	15. Wrong Way

●～*CHAPTER 15*～●

**A/N: Remember those random girls who talked to Amu in the first episode and in some other episodes? Manami and Wakana? I didn't remember, I had to look up their names! And Wakana had a funny-looking mystery egg…I thought it looked weird. Well if you don't know who they are, they're those random girls that talked to Amu. Okies, now I'll start the chapter. :)**

* * *

"Cabin number 39: Fuyuki-kun, Fujisaki-kun…" Nikaidou was still reading everyone's cabin groups.

Amu sighed as he continued reading the list. Nearly everyone had already gone to their cabins; only around fifteen people were left and some of them were getting called up to go to their cabins. She didn't think it was fair that she had to be in one of the LAST cabin groups.

"…and Sanjo-kun," Nikaidou finished reading the names of everyone in cabin 39.

Amu noticed there were only five other people left besides her, which meant that she was the last cabin group, not just one of the last. The five people were all people she knew; they were Lulu, Saaya, Yua, Manami, and Wakana. Amu did talk to them sometimes, so she did know them.

"Cabin number 40 is Yamamoto-san, Yamabuki-sa – well, all of you guys left are in cabin 40, so I guess I don't need to read off your names. You may go to your cabin now," Nikaidou told the people that were left.

"We're in the LAST cabin group, how annoying…" Lulu grumbled.

"Yeah, it took a loooong time for Nikaidou to read the names," Yua agreed.

"They should have put me, Saaya Yamabuki, in the first cabin! How dare they make me wait!" Saaya wailed.

"Oh, well, at least we're in the same cabin, Manami," Wakana said.

"Yeah, I'm stuck with you," Manami grumbled, then seeing Wakana's surprised expression, added, "Just kidding! Sheesh, can you take a joke?"

They all just stood there chatting, with the exception of Amu. Amu noticed that Nikaidou had left, leaving them all alone. She wanted to get to her cabin already, so she finally spoke up, "Um, shouldn't we go to our cabin now?"

"Yeah, sure," Yua answered for everyone.

They all started walking to the three paths that led to the cabins, but then stopped in front of them.

"Which one…?" Lulu asked, but no one knew which one. All of them were either not paying attention, or just forgot which path they were supposed to take. Saaya said that she thought there was only one path.

"Now what?" Amu sighed. She just wanted to get to her cabin, but no one knew where to go, including herself. She suddenly wished she had actually paid more attention to what Nikaidou was saying so she would have remembered. But unfortunately, she hadn't. Amu tried to imagine what would happen if they took the wrong path.

"_Of course this path is correct!" Amu exclaimed, pointing towards a random path. No one else knew where to go, so they all assumed Amu was right and followed her down the path._

_They kept on walking and walking, but they never saw any cabins. Soon they all got tired and their feet hurt. Amu, Lulu, Yua, Saaya, Manami, and Wakana all wondered if they had taken the wrong path, but they all were too tired to go back. Suddenly, they heard a loud "ROAR!" and a bear leaped in front of them._

_The bear growled before coming up to Amu first. It grabbed her and was about to sink its teeth into her skin when–_

Amu decided not to imagine what would happen next. She didn't want to think about how it would feel if she was eaten by a giant bear.

"Let's just go this way," Wakana suggested, pointing towards the path on the left, and started walking there. Everyone else started to follow, before Amu stopped them.

"Wait! What happens if we take the wrong path…there are dangerous animals and things out in the forest, you know," Amu said.

_Like evil grizzly bears_, she added to herself.

"Well, then where are we supposed to go?" Yua asked. "If you think we shouldn't go that way…"

"I don't know," Amu answered.

"I'm going down the middle path, then," Saaya sighed and started walking that way. Amu as well as everyone else didn't know what to do so they just followed.

_Besides_, Amu thought, _what's the worst that could happen? We'll either end up at the girls' cabins or the boys', and if we end up there a teacher or someone could tell us where to go._ Amu remembered there were three paths. _Or we might end up…at the teachers' cabins?_

Amu was sure a bear wouldn't attack them anyways, so she ran a little to catch up with the rest of her group.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Utau, you're here, great!" Yukari came up to Utau when the black limo pulled up at the camp place. "I'll take your luggage up to your cabin for you, so right now can you check all the cabins to see if everyone's there?" Yukari inquired.

"Sure, but I have a question," Utau said.

"What?" Yukari asked.

"Don't you think I'm a little…young to be filling in for a teacher? I'm only a year older than all these eighth graders," Utau pointed out.

"Whatever, I'm sure you'll be fine. And you can start with the girls' cabins, just take the path to the left," Yukari pointed towards the three paths and Utau started to make her way there.

What had happened was one of the teachers had eaten a bad cucumber and gotten sick. They threw up a few times already on the bus, and decided that they should go home since they weren't feeling well. Utau found this story weird, since, she never really heard of any one eating bad cucumber. But it happened, so she filled in for the teacher. All she had to do was help with some crafts and do some other stuff, anyways.

Utau checked to make sure everyone in each of the cabins was there. She was almost done when she got to the 40th cabin. When she went outside, though, there was no one in there. Utau checked the paper in her hand to see that Lulu, Saaya, Yua, Manami, Wakana, and Amu were supposed to be there instead of just a blank cabin.

Utau told Yukari there wasn't any one in cabin 40 there, and after checking all the boys' cabins, they weren't there either.

"If they didn't take the left or right paths, then they must have taken the middle path," Yukari sighed.

"What's there? The teachers' cabins?" Utau asked.

"No," Yukari shook her head. "The hiking trail."

"Oh, well, they'll probably realize they went the wrong way and turn back," Utau said.

"The hiking trail is longer than you think. You need to go after them." Yukari told her.

"What? Do I have to?" Utau asked, but realized before Yukari did anything that she did have to. "Fine," she grumbled.

"You need to catch up to them. Run, Utau!" Yukari said.

Utau sighed and ran down the middle path. She kind of regretted filling in for a teacher now, but someone had to do it. And Utau had agreed, so she couldn't leave now. Besides, if she went to school instead she would have had to do more work, probably. So going to this camp was better. When Utau got a little tired she slowed down to a walk. She found it hard to believe that no one in cabin 40 knew which path was the right one. At least one of them should have listened!

Utau continued walking, but there was still no one in sight.

* * *

**A/N: In my opinion, this chapter wasn't very interesting…but ehh. I feel like there's NO Amuto in my story at all yet, but don't worry! The Amuto will come…sometime, maybe soon-ish? Well, there WILL be some! After the camping trip ends there will be some Amuto…was that a spoiler? Erm…anyways…please review if ya want! XDDD**


	16. Wrong Diary

●～*CHAPTER 16*～●

"When I get my hands on those silly kids, I'll –" Utau started grumbling but stopped when she realized she was starting to sound like a grumpy old lady. She was hoping she would find them soon since she was getting tired of walking/running to catch up to them. And she didn't want them to be eaten by hungry bears or anything, either, or anything else happening to them that could be bad.

Utau was very relieved to hear Amu's voice not too far ahead from where she was. "I'm pretty sure this is the wrong way since we've walked pretty far and haven't seen a single cabin, you know," Amu said.

"So we should turn back now?" Manami asked.

"I guess," Lulu sighed loudly, and then there was only the sound of really loud footsteps after that coming towards Utau.

_Are those kids walking or stomping on the ground?_ Utau wondered, since it really did sound like they were marching or something like that. _Or maybe they're just really close…_

Utau didn't want to waste any more time, so instead of waiting for the lost student to get to her, she started walking quickly down the path to where they were.

"Utau!" Amu exclaimed when Utau had reached them. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm filling in for a teacher. And what I want to know is how all of you didn't know which path to take," Utau glared at them, making Yua hide behind Lulu.

"Wait…which path was the right one?" Yua stepped up from behind Lulu.

"The left one," Utau answered.

"Hey! I said that one at first!" Wakana whined.

"If only Amu hadn't been so paranoid and made us take the middle path…" Lulu sighed again. Utau wondered what was with this girl and sighing…although, Utau had only heard her sigh twice.

"Well, Saaya was the one that suggested the middle path…if we had taken the right then at least a teacher would have found us and told us which way to go," Amu pointed out.

"Hinamori Amu, are you saying this is MY faul –" Saaya began.

"Yes, I am," Amu interrupted her.

"Just STOP your arguing and let's get back to camp!" Utau stopped their fighting, and everyone followed Utau back towards the camp, where the students had already started to decorate their horseshoes with glitter.

Amu, Yua, Lulu, Saaya, Manami, and Wakana all took a seat at the empty table reserved for their cabin and Utau went over to where the other teachers were. There were six horseshoes already on the table for them and glitter, sequins, stickers, and other things there to use for decorating.

Manami and Wakana were quietly decorating their horseshoes while Saaya was grinning maniacally and covering hers with gold glitter, Lulu was complaining, Yua was cheerfully putting stickers on her horseshoe, and Amu was using pink and black sequins to decorate hers.

"Decorating horseshoes…what a childish activity. It's like we're first graders or something," Lulu muttered. Amu had to agree that it was a little childish, but she didn't really mind too much. It was fun, and crafts were for all ages anyways.

"Cheer up, Lulu-chi, this is fun!" Yua grinned at her.

"No, it's not." Lulu grumbled but began decorating her horseshoe with little plastic gems. Although she claimed to Saaya that it was boring, she seemed to be enjoying it.

Pretty soon after, the activity was done and everyone could go to their cabins and go to sleep immediately, or wait thirty minutes until it was 9:00. Amu and the rest of her cabin group hadn't even been to their cabin yet, so they were curious about how it looked.

Their cabin was the farthest down the path, since it was the last one. The inside looked like a normal cabin, with three bunk beds and six cubbies for their suitcases, and it had a glass roof that showed the sky up above.

Lulu claimed a lower bunk on the bunk bed to the left of the door, and Yua took the one above hers. Saaya took the top bunk on the bed to the right of the door, and Wakana took the one below her. Manami took the bottom bunk on the last bunk bed, which left Amu with the top bunk on that same bed.

Everyone unpacked their things and got ready for bed. Amu climbed up into her bed and could see the night sky clearly above her head. It was pretty cool that the cabins had glass roofs, since the sky looked pretty. Amu thought a star seemed to wink at her from above.

…_Wait, winking stars from above? That just sounded…cheesy. Or corny. Or both_, Amu thought to herself.

Amu remembered that she had brought her diary along with her, so she got down from her bed and took it out of her suitcase along with a pen to write with. She had already gotten over to her bed and flipped open to the page that was last written on.

_Dear Journal,_

_I do not love Amu. _

Amu froze after reading the first sentence. She hadn't written that, which meant…she had taken the wrong diary. Amu looked down at the bottom of the page and saw Ikuto's name at the bottom. So Ikuto kept a diary too…but Amu had no idea how she had taken it by accident. She dimly remembered picking up a random diary from her room floor and stuffing it into her suitcase, though. Amu should have at least looked at the cover before packing it with her. Amu hoped Ikuto wouldn't notice his diary missing. If he wrote in it every night, he surely would…but if not, maybe he wouldn't notice…

Amu was about to put it away when she remembered what the first sentence Ikuto had written was: "I do not love Amu." Amu also remembered Utau mentioning that day they went to the mall that she thought Ikuto liked her, in that way. Though it couldn't be true, Ikuto had written himself that it wasn't. But Amu was still curious why he had written that he didn't love her, why he needed to mention that. Amu decided she couldn't help it and read further up till the end of the journal entry.

_I guess I kind of like her, but I don't LOVE her or anything. Sure, I enjoy teasing her and all, and I like her blush and when she smiles, though she never smiles at me. But I don't LOVE her or anything. I'm never going to LOVE anyone. Besides, I haven't even known Amu that long. I just want to get her to like me since I don't want her to hate me. And I didn't really do anything that bad to her, anyways. So why doesn't she like me? Anyways, I wrote this since it sounded earlier like I did LOVE her, and you probably thought that so I just wanted to explain to you that I don't. Oh great, now I'm talking to a journal. Or writing to one. I'm explaining stuff to a journal. I feel weird now, and I don't really have anything else to say, so I'm done._

_~Ikuto_

Amu thought about what she read. Ikuto had said that he enjoyed teasing he…and he likes her blush and her smiles. And that she never smiled at him. Ikuto had written that he wanted her to like him, rather than hating him.

_Maybe I should try smiling at him once, and try to like him too_, Amu found herself thinking.

He wanted to her to like her…and he said it actually sounded like he did love her in his previous entries. Amu wasn't going to read those, though. She probably shouldn't have read one page of Ikuto's diary anyways.

"I'm never going to LOVE anyone" was something Ikuto had written…Amu felt a little bit disappointed at that. Not because she wanted him to love her, because…well, Ikuto should love SOMEONE. Sometime. He shouldn't never fall in love with someone ever. Besides, there were probably a lot of people willing to go out with him. Amu hated to admit it, but he was pretty good-looking. Ikuto never wanted to love anyone at all. That was why Amu felt disappointed. He didn't love her anyways, which he had stated several times in his journal, so even if she did like him a little he would never feel the same. But Amu didn't, anyways.

Amu put the journal away in her suitcase since if it wasn't hers, she couldn't write in it, and she climbed into bed and fell asleep quickly.

_I'm never going to love anyone_, she imagined Ikuto saying over and over again.

_Never going to love anyone…_Ikuto repeated in her mind.

_Anyone…_

* * *

**A/N: Hehe Ikuto creepily talking in Amu's mind…I updated quicker than usual, I think! I'm updating after less than a week, anyways…SO LET'S EAT THAT CAKE! …I dunno why I wrote that, I just needed to write something. Review if ya feels like it~ :) **


	17. Confession

**~*CHAPTER 17*~**

Amu yawned and opened her eyes the next morning. It was 7:00, and everyone else in her cabin was already awake. Amu got up too and brushed her teeth, changed into different clothes, and started walking to the dining hall for breakfast with Wakana, Manami, Lulu, Yua, and Saaya.

When Amu got there she found that you could just sit at any table you wanted, so she took a seat at the table where Rima, Tadase, Nagihiko, and Kairi were already sitting.

"Hi, Amu," Rima greeted Amu, and everyone else at the table did the same.

"Hi," Amu said back to all of them, but other than that she didn't really talk during breakfast. She just ate my pancakes in silence. When everyone finished their breakfast, they could do pretty much whatever they wanted for the next twenty minutes.

Amu finished my breakfast and stood up to leave the table when Tadase stopped me. "Amu-chan, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"

"S-sure," Amu agreed, wondering what Tadase would want to tell her without anyone else hearing. Rima, Nagihiko, and Kairi also seemed to be thinking the same thing, since they looked surprised.

Amu followed Tadase outside to the spot behind the dining hall, where there was no one near enough to hear them. Everyone else was either in the dining hall, or somewhere in front of it. Whatever Tadase wanted to tell Amu, he could do it here without anyone hearing.

"Amu-chan, I've been meaning to say this to you for a while now," Tadase began seriously. More seriously than he normally talked, like what he was about to say was important.

_Was it?_ Amu wondered.

"What is it?" Amu asked.

"I…I really like you, Amu-chan," Tadase said finally.

_What?_ Amu wasn't really sure what to do. She didn't know if by "like" Tadase meant friendly like or…_like_ like. And she wasn't really sure which one she'd prefer.

"As in _like_ like, I mean, not just as friends," Tadase explained. "So…will you go out with me?"

So now Amu knew he meant like in that way. This meant…Tadase just confessed to her. Amu still wasn't sure what to do, since, no one had ever confessed to her before. They were always too afraid if they did like her. And she had never confessed to anyone, either. But Amu HAD watched romantic movies and all anyone ever said when they were confessed to was either "No, I'm sorry…" or "Yes! Of course!"

_But which do I say?_ Amu wondered. She did have a small crush on Tadase, and she knew that, but did she really want to go out with him? It's not like there was anyone else she had a crush on…except Ikuto. Well, she used to, but that was a long time ago, not anymore. It was back when she was nine, and she had first met Ikuto. She had only seen him twice before this year, and that was so long ago Ikuto probably didn't remember. Amu actually didn't remember at first, but a few days after moving into the same house, Amu remembered that she had met both Ikuto and Utau before.

_(Flashback)_

_"__Amu, some friends of mine are here today for dinner. They have two kids not too much older than you that you can play with. Come down and meet them!" Amu's mom had said._

_"__Fine, I will," Amu closed the book she was reading and followed her mom downstairs._

_She saw Souko, Aruto, a ten year-old Utau, and a twelve year-old Ikuto downstairs in the hall, with her dad and Ami, too. Amu and her mom joined everyone on the sofa._

_"__Say hi to Ikuto and Utau, Amu," Tsukomo said._

_"__Hi." Amu greeted them simply in a bored voice. She WAS bored, and she wanted to go back to her room and read._

_"__Hi." Utau and Ikuto said in an equally bored way._

_Amu, Utau, and Ikuto stayed silent after that, and Midori, realizing none of them was going to speak anytime soon, suggested, "Why don't you all go up to Amu's room?"_

_Amu got up and started walking towards her room, with Utau and Ikuto following. When they got there, Amu sat down on her bed and continued reading her book, leaving Utau and Ikuto standing in the room not knowing what to do._

_"Hey, Amu?" Ikuto finally spoke._

_"Yeah? You can call me Hinamori-san," Amu didn't look up from what she was reading. Not because she was that interested in her book, though. She just didn't feel like looking up._

_"Right, Amu, um..." Ikuto looked around. "Oh, is that your photo album over there?"_

_"Yes..." Amu answered, and looked up this time to see why Ikuto had asked._

_Ikuto had apparently taken her yes as permission to look through the album, since he took it and started looking through the pages, with Utau by his side._

_"Hey, look at this one, Iku!" Utau pointed towards one of the photos._

_"Yeah, that one looks funny," Ikuto grinned._

_Amu wondered what was the picture they were laughing at, so she got up and crossed the room to where Ikuto and Utau were standing, and saw the picture they were looking at. It was a pretty old photo, taken when she was five years old. It showed her holding an ice cream cone, smiling widely, with chocolate ice cream all over her mouth._

_"That's not funny!" Amu snatched the photo album away, and just then her parents called everyone down for dinner._

_Ikuto grinned and walked downstairs, with Utau following after him, and then Amu._

_-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

_The next day, Amu sat on a bench in the park watching all the other kids play. Amu wasn't going on the play ground since she was coming home from school with her mom, when her mom remembered something and asked Amu to sit at the park bench and wait a few minutes until she came back. So Amu sat, waiting._

_"Here you go," Someone handed a chocolate ice cream cone to her. Amu looked up to see Ikuto standing in front of her._

_"What's this for?" Amu asked._

_"I thought you might like it," Ikuto smiled before taking a seat on the park bench next to her. "I mean, when you were younger, you seemed to enjoy getting chocolate ice cream all over your face," he added._

_"I didn't do that on purpose," Amu grumbled before licking her ice cream. She took a bite out of it and winced a little at the coldness._

_"You bite your ice cream?" Ikuto asked._

_"Well, I want to eat it fast," Amu explained. "Or else someone might try to steal it from me, or it'll melt."_

_Ikuto just laughed at her response. A minute later, her mom came, and Amu left to go home. She waved goodbye to Ikuto before walking off towards her home. She did have a small crush on him, but she didn't see him for four years after that, and Amu forgot about Ikuto..._

_(End of flashback)_

"Amu-chan?" Tadase waved a hand in front of Amu's face, and she realized that she had been spacing out.

"Oh, sorry, Tadase-kun, I was just thinking about what to say..." Amu said.

_So...what do I say?_ Amu thought. She did have a small crush on Ikuto back then, though she didn't really see him again for a long time. But that was the past, and Amu sure didn't like Ikuto now. At least, not like _that_. But Amu knew she had on a crush on Tadase now, so why not?

"Tadase-kun?" Amu inquired.

"Yes?" Tadase asked.

"Yes...I'll go out with you."

* * *

**A/N: THE END! ...Just kidding! Haha, fooled you there, didn't I? Well, I probably didn't, but...ANYWAYS, umm...review? ^-^ (Puppy face! Or kitty? I dunno...^-^)**


	18. The Date

~*CHAPTER 18*~

_Recap_

_"Tadase-kun?" Amu inquired._

_"Yes?" Tadase asked._

_"Yes...I'll go out with you."_

_End of Recap_

* * *

"Y-you will?" Tadase was...surprised.

"Yeah, didn't I just say that?" Amu said.

"Oh, well, that's...great," Tadase said.

"So...can I leave now? Or is there anything else you need to tell me?" Amu asked.

"You can leave," Tadase answered, and Amu made her way over in front of the

dining hall, where she spotted Rima, Nagihiko, and Kairi standing.

When Amu approached them, she wasn't surprised the first thing they all asked at once was, "So what did Tadase need to tell you?"

"It was nothing that important," Amu waved them off.

"Sounds like it was..." Rima grinned in that creepy way.

"Did Tadase confess to you or something?" Nagihiko asked, making Amu wonder how he could have guessed what had happened. Rima did mention something about him having psychic powers before, but Amu didn't really believe that. Although now she understood why Rima might have thought that...

"Wha—? How did you know?" Amu asked.

" I didn't need psychic powers to figure that out," Nagihiko added. Well, now Amu knew he didn't have psychic powers. Wait a moment...if Nagihiko knew she was thinking about him having psychic powers...then maybe he did have them! Or maybe Amu was just imagining things.

"...Yeah, but it's no big deal or anythin—" Amu began, before she was interrupted.

"No way! He actually did it!" Nagihiko exclaimed.

"I knew he wanted to, but I'm surprised he actually went and did it," Kairi commented.

Amu needed to change the subject, so she said, "Hey, Kairi, you're not in the same grade as us, so why are you on this trip? I mean, I'm just wondering."

"Yukari let him, he helped with some stuff," Nagihiko answered quickly.

"Wait a moment...what did you tell Tadase, Amu?" Rima demanded. So much for changing the subject.

"I said...yes," Amu answered, hoping her friends wouldn't freak out or anything.

"What? No way!" Rima exclaimed.

"Amu-chan said yes?" Nagihiko gasped.

"Wow!" Even Kairi seemed surprised.

Amu sighed and turned away. Of course her friends would freak out...just like she would if Yaya and Nagihiko started dating or something. Not that that would ever happen, but if it did, she'd be surprised.

Rima, Nagihiko, and Kairi continued blabbing on about Tadase finally confessing and Amu saying yes, so Amu decided to go back to her cabin since she was getting bored. She got there and was about to take out her diary when she remembered she forgot to bring hers; she accidentally brought Ikuto's diary. Amu hoped he wouldn't notice it was missing. How was she supposed to explain this to him? She could just tell the truth...but not the part about reading his last diary entry. It was an accident, since she had just flipped to the last page with writing, thinking it was her diary. But Amu still felt a little bad for reading it, since that wasn't exactly an accident. But just a little bad.

Amu read a book she had brought for a few minutes before Utau came in and told her that the twenty minute break had ended, and that Amu should pack her things to board the bus back to school. Lulu, Saaya, Manami, Wakana, and Yua all came in too and started packing.

Amu stuffed her things in her suitcase and followed the other students to where the buses were. She had forgotten that the camping trip was only two days long, or more like one day and a little bit of the second day. And now she had to go on the bus for two hours or something like that back home.

Amu took a seat next to Rima again, and talked a little for some time before just reading her book for the rest of the bus ride.

* * *

When Amu got home, her parents all asked about the trip and if it was fun and all, and Amu told them a little bit about it. Then Amu went to her room to unpack. When she opened her suitcase, the first thing she took out was Ikuto's diary, so she could put it back in Ikuto's room before he noticed it was missing.

Amu walked into Ikuto's room and found Ikuto sitting on his bed. He looked up when Amu came in, and Amu realized she should have at least made sure he wasn't there before walking into his room...holding his journal.

"So, Amu...why did you need my journal for your class trip?" Ikuto asked casually, in an I-caught-you voice. Amu never liked it when people used that voice on her, but who did, anyways?

"Oh, um..." Amu began.

"Um?" Ikuto asked.

"I accidentally picked it up thinking it was my diary and shoved it into my backpack, and when I opened my suitcase at camp, I found out it was your diary, not mine," Amu explained, before realizing something. Ikuto's journal had been in her room, so it wasn't really her fault she had taken it with her. "And what was your journal doing in my room anyways?" Amu asked, trying to put on an I-caught-you look like Ikuto had done.

"Oh, I just needed to go in your room to look at the time since my clock was wrong," Ikuto answered. "Don't worry, I know it's not your fault you stole my journal."

"And I know it's not your fault you barged into my room for no reason," Amu said, and handed Ikuto his journal back, trying her I-caught-you look again. She was starting to get good at making that look.

"Why are you making that weird face?" Ikuto asked. Okay, maybe Amu wasn't good at making that look.

"I'm not," Amu protested, and started to walk away when Ikuto grabbed her arm, causing her to blush slightly.

"What?" Amu questioned.

"You know, it's really easy to make you blush," Ikuto commented, and Amu pulled her hand away from Ikuto.

"Is that why you grabbed my hand? To tell me that?" Amu inquired.

"No, actually, I was wondering if you had read my journal," Ikuto asked.

"W-why would I read your journal?" Amu questioned.

"You stutter when you lie," Ikuto pointed out. "Your mom was right that day before you left on your class trip. You are a horrible liar."

"Well, I might have read the last page you wrote on, but that was only because I thought it was my diary," Amu decided she shouldn't lie, and Ikuto knew she had read it anyways, since she wasn't exactly a good liar.

"Oh, well," Ikuto shrugged.

"That's it? You don't care at all?" Amu asked incredulously. She thought he would have at least call her a snoop or something.

"At least you admitted it. Good girl," Ikuto patted Amu on the head like she was a little kid. "You can leave now."

"Okay," Amu left the room, wondering why Ikuto patted her on the head like she was some toddler, but waving it away since he probably did that to everyone.

Amu made her way back to her room, and what seemed like just when she entered the room, her phone rang. Amu answered it and found that the caller was Tadase.

"Hello?" Amu asked, wondering what Tadase wanted.

"Um, Amu, I was wondering if you were free tonight..." Tadase began, and Amu knew what was coming next. She had watched enough TV shows to know that he was about to ask her out on a date. They always started out with "I was wondering if you were free whenever..."

"Yeah, I'm free," Amu answered.

"So...would you be willing to go on a date? We can eat dinner at this restaurant nearby and maybe watch a movie?" Tadase inquired.

"Sure, that'd be great," Amu answered.

"I'll pick you up at six?" Tadase asked.

"Okay, then," Amu agreed. "Bye."

With that, Amu hung up and checked the clock to see what time it was. It was already five, so Tadase would be coming in just an hour. On TV shows and stuff, people who went on dates always had to dress fancy and stuff, and that took a while. So Amu rifled through her closet, looking for something she should wear. She shouldn't just come in a plain T-shirt and jeans, but Amu didn't think she needed to wear a fancy formal gown or anything like that. So what was she supposed to wear?

"Hey, Am - what are you doing?" Utau came into Amu's room to find her destroying her closet.

"I need to find something to wear," Amu replied.

"For what?" Utau questioned, coming over to where Amu was standing.

"A date," Amu answered simply.

"WHOA. You're going on a date?" Utau seemed surprised. "With who? Ikuto?"

"No!" Amu said, wondering why Utau would think that. "With Tadase."

"Oh, well, I'll help you get ready," Utau offered. "What time is it?"

"It's at six," Amu told her, and Utau set off to work. She picked out a red halter top and a simple black miniskirt for Amu to wear, paired with small black heels (since Amu said she couldn't walk in big heels), and tied Amu's hair up into a high ponytail. Utau made Amu put on a little bit of lip gloss real quick, and she was done.

"There, you're ready," Utau shoved Amu in front of a mirror.

Amu looked at herself, and she had to say Utau had done a good job. She picked out simple clothes for Amu, and didn't add a lot of makeup, just some lip gloss, so Amu's outfit still looked casual, but...fancy-ish. Well, it looked good for a date, not too fancy. Amu liked it that way.

"Thanks, Utau," Amu said, and checked the clock once again. It was 5:57, and knowing Tadase, he wouldn't be late, so Amu decided to go downstairs.

Amu sat in the sofa in the living room, thinking. She wondered if she really should have accepted Tadase's confession, since she might not really like him that much, as more than a friend. Tadase was nice and all, and he made her blush, but did she really love him? Ikuto made her blush, too, and even more than Tadase...wait, why was she even thinking about Ikuto anyways?

* * *

Ikuto noticed Amu walk by his room looking...dressed up. She wore a top, skirt, and heels, and Ikuto could tell she was going somewhere. Why would Amu change her clothes now for no reason, and why would she wear a fancy-looking top and heels if she was just staying home all day? She had to be going out somewhere, Ikuto knew it. Maybe Utau knew where that was...

Ikuto got up and left his room. He spotted Utau and went over to her, but before he could say anything, Utau went, "You're wondering why Amu is all dressed up?" Sometimes Ikuto wondered how she did that, just...know what he was thinking.

"Yeah, can you tell me?" Ikuto inquired.

"Amu's going on a date," Utau said simply. "With Tadase."

Ikuto wondered if he heard right. Amu was...dating? Tadase? Which meant Tadase must have went and confessed to her, and Amu had said yes. Well, there went his chance of getting Amu to fall in love with him. But then Ikuto remembered her didn't love Amu. His mission was to get Amu to like him, in a friendly way. He had even written in his journal that he did NOT love Amu.

Wait a moment...Ikuto remembered that Amu had admitted to reading his last journal entry, which was the one in which he had written that he didn't love Amu. Amu was sure he didn't love her, so what if, maybe, Amu liked him in that way, but went out with Tadase because he didn't love her? Nah, that couldn't be true. But Ikuto still slightly wished Amu hadn't read that one. Why of all his entries did she have to read that one? Although it would have been worse if she had read one about Ikura, or one about his secret missions to get her to like him...okay, so maybe reading that last one wasn't so bad. It could have been worse, but still...

"I bet you wish it was you she was going on a date with, right?" Utau smirked.

"No, I d -" Ikuto started, but Utau interrupted.

"Come on, Ikurin, I know you like her," Utau said. "Why else would you dress up as a girl to - mmph!" Utau stopped because Ikuto had covered her mouth with his hand.

"Don't say it so loud!" Ikuto hissed, and slowly removed his hand away from Utau's mouth.

"Alright, alright, but if you don't like her, I guess you wouldn't want to, I don't know, come along on Amu's date?" Utau asked.

"Huh? Come along?" Ikuto wasn't sure what Utau meant.

"You can go on a date with someone and go to that restaurant they're going to, and watch the same movie too, but just make sure Amu and Tadase don't see you," Utau explained.

"And why would I want to do that?" Ikuto asked.

"Well, you can find out if Amu really does like Tadase," Utau offered.

"Hmm..." Ikuto thought about it. It wasn't like he was spying on them or anything, just going to the same places. There was nothing wrong with that. But there was one problem... "Who am I going to take with me on this 'date'?" Ikuto questioned.

"You figure that out, and Amu and Tadase already left, so you might want to hurry," Utau said and walked away.

Ikuto wondered who he should call. He couldn't just call a random girl at his school since he would have to tell them it wasn't a real date, and he didn't want to do that, or they might ask why. Or they might just not go, or demand he pay them or whatever if they go, and he didn't have that much money. Yeah, he should go with someone he did know. Yaya? That might not work since...what if Yaya forgot they weren't supposed to let Amu and Tadase see them and talked to them? And he was pretty sure her parents didn't let her out of the house that late anyways. It was only around six, but still, she would have to be back home early. So who else should he call?

Ikuto thought of something and dialed a number on his phone.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Hi, shrimp, I need you to do me a small favor." Ikuto said.

"What? And that's not my name, you know," The person on the other end sounded a little annoyed.

"Fine, then." Ikuto sighed. "Rima, can you do me a small favor?"

"What favor?" Rima asked.

"I need you to go on a date with me." Ikuto told her.

"Huh?"

* * *

**A/N: That was a long chapter. The longest one so far! Ummm...I WANT THIS STORY TO END SOON. It will end soon, like in a few chapters. Hopefully. * taps pencil on chin, looking out window thoughtfully * ...I don't know why I wrote that. I just had to write something so this author's note wouldn't be too short and...yeah. Review? ;)**


	19. Noodles with Ketchup

~*CHAPTER 19*~

_Recap_

_"I need you to go on a date with me."_

_"Huh?"_

_End of Recap_

* * *

"Didn't you hear me? I need you to go on a date with me," Ikuto repeated.

"Why?" Rima asked. "I know you're not asking me to go on a real date, so there has to be a reason for a fake date."

"No reason…just can you come and pretend to be on a date with me?" Ikuto inquired.

"I have to know the reason first," Rima said, and Ikuto sighed. What was he supposed to say? To watch over Amu and Tadase's date because he secretly liked Amu and wanted to see if she was really happy with him? No, but he could tell the truth a little.

"Amu's going on a date with Tadase and invited me to come, but I'd feel like a third wheel if I went with them alone," Ikuto explained. "They're probably sitting at a table for two, so we'd have to take another table away from them, though." That wasn't a complete lie. Amu and Tadase were going on a date, only they hadn't invited Ikuto.

"…Alright, I guess I'll go on a date with you," Rima gave in. "But you have to convince my parents yourself. And don't call it a date in front of them. I need to be back by ten. Also, I need something in return."

"Sure, I'll talk to your parents," Ikuto agreed. "And you'll get free dinner in return," he added, hoping that would be enough.

"Hmm…" Rima considered this. "Sure, okay. When are you coming?""Now," Ikuto was relieved she agreed to his offer.

"Now? Okay then, bye." Rima hung up, and Ikuto turned off his phone. He was pretty surprised he actually managed to convince Rima to go on a date with him. And how hard could it be to convince her parents, anyways?

When Ikuto met Rima's parents, he realized he was wrong. It wasn't easy to convince Rima's parents at all like he had thought. He remembered what had happened when he rang the doorbell of Rima's house.

Rima's mother had answered it, and recognized him as Souko's son. Rima's mother knew Ikuto's through this club they had together. Ikuto didn't know what they did in the club; he just knew they were in some club together.

"Hello, Ikuto-san! What are you doing here?" Rima's mother greeted him warmly. Ikuto's mom had taken Ikuto to the club once, when the meeting was over and everyone was just sitting there drinking tea, or whatever it was they were drinking, so Ikuto hadn't found out what the club was that day. Anyways, now pretty much everyone in that club knew who Ikuto was. Ikuto wasn't really sure if that was a good thing, though.

"Hello, Mashiro-san," Ikuto used his most polite voice. "Your daughter and I were going to visit a restaurant with a few friends of ours. Is that okay?" When he wanted to, Ikuto could sound all polite and charming. Maybe that was why everyone in that mysterious club his mom was in liked him.

"Of course, dearie, just make sure you're back before dinner, around seven or eight." Mrs. Mashiro smiled at him. See, she did like him. Just like everyone else in that club.

"Oh, we'll be having dinner already, so can we be back a little later?" Ikuto questioned.

"Sure, you and Rima have fun!" Rima's mom had grinned, and Ikuto thought about how it was really easy to let her allow him to leave with Rima. Only Rima's father was a different story.

"Who are you?" He asked Ikuto, not threateningly or anything. He asked nicely.

"I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi, I came to pick up Mashiro-san so we could go to a restaurant," Ikuto replied.

"Restaurant? You're going on a date?! With Rima?" Rima's father was getting ready to slam the door in Ikuto's face when Ikuto said, well he didn't say anything yet since he was thinking about what had happened when he first came to Rima's house and about how Rima's dad was hard to convince. At least, he seemed that way.

"Are you going to answer?" Rima's dad asked, since Ikuto was lost in thought.

Ikuto snapped back to reality and said, "We were planning to go with a few friends of ours, not as a date."

"Rima's going out with boys?" Rima's dad still seemed unconvinced.

"And girls, too. Just as a group of friends," Ikuto said.

"Well…" Rima's dad thought, and Ikuto couldn't help feeling a little hopeful. "No." With that, Rima's dad closed the door on Ikuto.

Ikuto sighed, and rang the doorbell again, since what else could he do?

"You again, I thought I told you to get out," Rima's dad glared at him. Ikuto didn't dare point out that he never actually told Ikuto to leave.

"Dad, let it go," Rima had come down from the stairs. "Ikuto's a close friend. You know Utau Hoshina, the famous singer? He's her sister."

"Utau Hoshina's brother…I guess he mustn't be so bad, then," Rima's dad thought. "You're really her brother?" He scrutinized Ikuto carefully. "You don't look very alike, you know, your hair, skin, and eyes are different."

"I take after my dad more," Ikuto replied. "Now is it okay with you if Mashiro-san and I leave?"

"I guess, just be back before ten," Rima's dad said the same thing Rima had told Ikuto earlier on the phone. Rima's mom waved to them and Ikuto nodded and left the house with Rima, the door closing behind them.

"I thought I told you to convince them by yourself," Rima recalled once they were outside.

"I never asked you to help me," Ikuto pointed out.

"You failed to convince them anyways, so I had to help," Rima said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ikuto didn't bother lying.

They walked towards the restaurant in silence. It wasn't too far off from Rima's house, so they were just walking. After around five minutes, they arrived at the restaurant, which was called "Fancy Foods", which seemed like a funny name to Ikuto for some reason. When they got inside, Ikuto and Rima both had to admit it did look fancy. With red leather chairs and dull gold floral wallpaper. The tables had some candles on them and the place smelled like coconut. Ikuto spotted Amu and Ikuto seated at a booth by themselves.

"We can sit over there," Ikuto pointed at the booth directly behind Amu and Tadase's, where neither Amu nor Tadase would be able to see them if they sat there.

"Sure, but let's say hi to Amu and Tadase first," Rima grinned slightly in a knowing sort of way.

"No, let's not bother them," Ikuto waved the idea away.

"Why not?" Rima asked. "You said they invited you to come along."

_Oh yeah, I did say that_, Ikuto remembered. "Well," Ikuto said. "I already refused, so it might be rude to talk to them now."

"No, it's not really rude," Rima shook her head. Ikuto groaned; why did she have to be so…ugh? But then again, anyone would want to talk to their friends if they saw them at a restaurant, so it wasn't really Rima's fault, Ikuto knew. It was his fault for lying, and Ikuto knew that too.

"We should let them enjoy their date alone, really. Now can we take a seat already?" Ikuto didn't want to stand in the empty area in front of the door too long since if either Amu or Tadase looked up, they'd probably spot Ikuto. Maybe Ikuto should have come in disguise or something…he could wear a big hat and sunglasses to hide most of his face and his hair like Utau did before!

"Sure, we can sit down," Rima led the way over to the booth directly behind Amu and Tadase's.

"Can I help you?" A waitress bounced over to them almost the second they sat down.

Ikuto noticed the waitress was wearing a big floppy hat and sunglasses that hid most of her face and all her hair, which was kind of funny since Ikuto was just thinking about how Utau wore disguises like that sometimes so no one would know who she was. Except this person definitely wasn't Utau. Utau had said once that she absolutely hated pink floppy hats, and this waitress was wearing one. Utau only liked floppy hats that were in a shade of purple, brown, black, or white, which was kind of picky. Ikuto had told her once that she was picky, and she got mad at him. "It's the truth," Ikuto had shrugged but that didn't exactly help.

"Um, I'll order the noodles with…ketchup," Ikuto answered, and looked towards Rima.

"I'll have the same thing, I guess," Rima told the waitress. "Except without ketchup."

"Alrighty, coming right up!" The waitress rushed away to get their food.

Ikuto and Rima sat in silence as they waited for their food to come. It wasn't really an awkward silence, just…a silence. Or it was until finally Rima interrupted it by saying, "Ketchup? With noodles? Do many people eat that or is it just you?"

"I used to think a lot of people ate that but then I found out apparently they don't…" Ikuto recalled. "So yeah, it's just me."

"…That's nice." Rima stared at him weirdly before turning away and looking out the window to her left, not bothering to make conversation anymore.

"What? You think it's so weird that I put ketchup on my noodles?" Ikuto questioned, daring Rima to say yes.

"Yes, I think it's weird," Rima answered.

"Well I'll have you know I like my noodles with ketchup!" Ikuto argued.

"Ketchup is unhealthy!" Rima shouted. Not shouted in an angry way, more like she was just…arguing. Not fighting.

"It is not. Tomatoes are healthy!" Ikuto shot back.

"But tomato KETCHUP is bad for you," Rima said. "And that's not the point. My point is no one eats their noodles with ketchup!"

"Ketchup is good," Ikuto stated.

"Bad."

"Good!"

"Bad!"

"GOOD!"

"BAD!"

"Rima, Ikuto? I recognized your voices while you two were shouting back there?" Someone approached their table grinning. Rima and Ikuto both recognized that voice the moment they heard it, so they didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"Ikuto nii-san…Mashiro-san…what are you two doing here?" Ikuto and Rima could recognize that voice too without looking up. But they looked up anyways, not surprised to see Amu and Tadase standing in front of their table. Ikuto's plan had failed already, and after only…what, five minutes?

"You know, maybe we shouldn't have screamed like that," Ikuto told Rima.

"Yeah, we shouldn't have." Rima agreed.

* * *

**A/N: Okies, I'm done with the chapter! I was gonna make it longer but since it looks like this is going to be more than twenty chapters anyways, I just ended it here. It's long enough, anyways, still longer than most of my chapters. I've eaten noodles with ketchup before. I didn't know if others did, though…the people that I asked said they didn't. And once I ate noodles with ketchup at lunch and someone was surprised since they said most people didn't do that, so…eh. Though I mostly just eat noodles plain or with some sauce...but I don't think you people really care so I'll stop talking about noodles. XD I made Ikuto eat noodles with ketchup. Or order it, anyways. NO MORE NOODLE TALK NOW. Umm…review if you want? :DDD**


	20. Explaining

~*CHAPTER 20*~

"Hi, Amu, Tadase..." Rima waved, while Ikuto didn't say anything. "What a surprise seeing you two here." Rima almost seemed like she was enjoying herself, unlike Ikuto who was wishing Amu and Tadase would leave and pretend they never saw them.

"Um...why are you two here together, though?" Amu had to ask. Tadase was also wondering is there was a reason Ikuto and Rima were alone at a restaurant together, anyways.

"Oh, because both of our parents had to stay at work late, and Rima and I can't cook dinner by ourselves, so our parents told us to both eat dinner here. You know, so we won't be alone," Ikuto lied smoothly. Technically it wasn't a complete lie...the part about Rima not being able to cook was true.

"Oh, ok," Amu wasn't suspicious of Ikuto's story at all.

"But I thought you were supposed to be really good at cooking, right?" Tadase questioned. "Didn't you even win first place in this contes ‒ "

"I lost my talent for cooking, okay?" Ikuto interrupted. Not that he actually had lost his talent ‒ he was still an amazing cook. "Now shouldn't you two go back to, er, eating?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Amu said. "But it was kinda surprising that we sat in booths right beside each other...anyways, see ya!"

Amu turned around to follow Tadase back to their table and immediately bumped into someone. She didn't know who, just someone with a big floppy pink hat and huge aviator sunglasses, who both Ikuto and Rima realized was their waitress, who had come back with their noodles.

"Oh, no..." A familiar voice, which belong to the waitress, spoke.

Amu had bumped into her slightly hard, but luckily she managed to put the two bowls of noodles on the table before dropping them. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop her hat or sunglasses from falling off before it was too late, and Amu, Tadase, Rima, and Ikuto were all surprised to see who was under the "disguise". Ikuto was right all along; the waitress was in disguise! Well, he didn't really know that but he had thought earlier that it looked a little bit like she was in surprise, so that counted, right?

"Utau?" Ikuto asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I could ask you the same thing..." Utau replied.

"He said he's there with Rima since both of their parents aren't home and they both can't cook dinner either," Amu explained.

"Apparently Ikuto lost all his cooking talent." Tadase said.

"What? That's not true. The real reason he came was to sp – mmph!" Utau couldn't continue because Ikuto had taken a spoon and stuffed some noodles in her mouth.

"Shush, Utau!" Ikuto hissed.

"Why did you feed me noodles? Hey…" Utau paused. "I can taste ketchup!"

"Yeah, I gave you the noodles closest to me, which happened to be the one with ketchup," Ikuto explained.

"The reason Ikuto came was to sp…?" Amu asked, looking like she didn't have a clue what that meant. "Spook? Splash?"

"Maybe he wanted to sprint…in a race?" Tadase questioned.

"Spill, like spill noodles everywhere?" Amu wondered aloud.

"Oh, I know, spoon! He wanted to use a spoon," Tadase said.

Utau and Ikuto just stood and watched while Amu and Tadase blabbered on about what Utau was about to say. Luckily Ikuto had stopped her at "sp–". Then Ikuto asked, "Why are you here, Utau? To spy on Rima and me?"

"Well, actually it was to spy on," Utau stopped talking and whispered the next part, "_them_." She tilted her head towards Amu and Tadase.

"Aha, so you came to spy on them too," Ikuto accused.

"You were also going to do that!" Utau exclaimed.

"Um…can I leave?" Rima asked, and Utau and Ikuto turned towards her. Amu and Tadase had somehow heard her and stopped thinking of reasons why Ikuto could be here to see what was going to happen.

"Oh, I forgot about you…" Ikuto said.

"Yeah, I know," Rima said. "But I just got a text from my mom asking if I could leave since she's outside already, and I told her I can. Have fun spying on Amu and Tadase!" Rima then exited the restaurant to go home, leaving Ikuto, Utau, Tadase, and Amu standing in a big silence, which Amu decided to break by exclaiming, "Spy on us? That's the word, spy!"

"Great job Amu! We did it," Tadase said.

"Oh, no…" Ikuto sighed. Why did Rima have to tell them? Then again, she wouldn't have known it was a secret since it's not like he ever told her…how did she find out then? Ikuto guessed she might have overheard Utau whispering, since other than that he couldn't find another explanation. Yes, she overheard and told Amu and Tadase before she left since she was tired. "Oh, it's 8:00 already," Ikuto checked his watch.

"Why were you going to spy on us, both of you?" Amu asked Ikuto and Utau.

"Yeah, is there a reason?" Tadase asked.

"Oh, great…" Ikuto sighed again. What was he supposed to tell them? Not the truth, that he wanted to see if Amu really did Tadase. And he'd failed anyways so there wasn't really a point in staying there anymore. Maybe he could pretend his parents called?

"Well?" Tadase questioned.

"I just wanted to check up on Ikuto here…and you two also, I guess," Utau said. "That's it."

"And I…" Ikuto began, since he realized he had left his phone at home, so he couldn't pretend his parents called. There wasn't really a way to get out of this now. What was he supposed to say?

"I want the real truth, Ikuto," Amu looked at him with big pleading eyes.

"I also wanted to check and see…how you were doing…" Ikuto answered carefully. That wasn't a lie, since he had wanted to check and see if Amu really liked Tadase or not, so if she didn't he might have a chance. Maybe, but probably not.

"Maybe we should go home now, Ikuto," Utau said. "Our parents don't even know we're not home. They might be worried." Ikuto knew Utau was actually trying to help him for once, which surprised him. Why would she be helping him, anyways?

"Yeah, they probably are worried," Ikuto agreed. "We should leave." He decided he could ask Utau on the way home why she was helping him.

"Wait, Ikuto!" Amu shouted, and he stopped. "Check how I was doing? Huh?" Amu still wanted an explanation, unfortunately for Ikuto. "And you have to answer or else…I'll tell your parents that you were spying on us!" Amu seemed surprised that she had found a good threat. Ikuto was surprised too, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't let Amu tell his parents, so he had to tell her why he was here.

"Well, I had heard you and Tadase were dating, so I just wanted to see if you really liked him…" Ikuto said.

"Why?" Amu asked. "I mean, why would you care about that?"

Ikuto thought about what to say to that. He couldn't tell Amu about his tiny crush he had on her… "Well, because, I thought we were kind of…friends," Ikuto replied. "And friends look out for each other!" That wasn't a bad answer, it actually made sense. He had thought Amu was nicer to him lately, so they were kind of "friends", right? And he was looking out for her, so he was telling the truth. He had been lying a lot lately, so it felt weird to tell the truth. Ikuto had lied a lot since Amu came, he meant. He lied about Ikura, about Amu and Utau being ponytailcuffed, about pretending to date Rima.

There was a huge silence again, and Utau, Ikuto, Tadase, and Amu all just stood there before Amu was the one to break the silence again. "Friends?" Amu wondered aloud to herself. "Yeah, I guess we can be _sort of_ friends…and they do look out for each other, so that makes sense!"

Ikuto was happy to hear that since that meant Amu believed him and he didn't have to explain further and Amu still didn't know about his tiny crush. Plus, now they were _friends_, instead of kind-of-enemies.

"Yeah, so now maybe Utau and I should leave," Ikuto said. His plain was already ruined, so there was no point in staying, right?

"Wait!" Amu cried again, and Ikuto and Utau waited…again. Then Amu did something kind of weird. She went over to Ikuto and…hugged him.

"What are you doing?" Ikuto asked, but didn't break away.

"It's nice that you're looking out for me…you're a good friend!" Amu smiled, and Ikuto smiled a little too. Then Amu pulled away as if nothing big had happened, and really, nothing had. All she had done was hug him, after all.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to finish this chapter fast! Cuz it's been over a week since I last updated and all…yeah. I didn't get to use the computer much this week anyways, since I was sick and I don't use the computer much then. Also, happy Mother's day! :D Unless you live in Mexico or some other place where Mother's day passed…then happy late Mother's day, I guess! :D Weee, I got over 100 reviews now! I didn't think I would last chapter since before I updated I had less than 90 reviews, but for some reason a lot of people reviewed last chapter, so yeah! Um, review? :)**


	21. Awkwardness

~*CHAPTER 21*~

When Utau and Ikuto got home, there was no one downstairs, which meant their parents, Amu's parents, and Ami must be asleep already. Or maybe just in their rooms reading or whatever. It was only around 8:30, so that would make more sense. Ikuto was kind of tired already and was going to go straight to bed when Utau grabbed his arm and said, "Wait. We need to talk," in this serious voice, like what she had to talk about was important.

"Well, can you make it quick? I was going to go to bed," Ikuto sighed and sat down on the sofa, Utau copying his actions.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Utau asked vaguely, and Ikuto could honestly say he wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. Tell who what?

"What are you talking about?" Ikuto questioned, causing Utau to let out a long, loud sigh as if she was really exhausted or something.

"Why didn't you tell Amu," Utau began, "why you really came? It was the perfect chance to confess!"

"Confess? Confess what?" Ikuto asked cluelessly (he hoped it sounded clueless).

"You know I know you like Amu." Utau stated. "Ikura? The spying? And your teasing and staring and stuff? It was obvious," she explained. Utau and Kukai knew; that made two people that knew about Ikuto's small "crush" on Amu.

"Alright," Ikuto agreed, realizing that there was no point in denying it, "but I have no plans of confessing. Ever."

"Why not? Amu probably won't either since she's too shy, which means you'll both never confess and end up lonely for the rest of your life!" Utau cried dramatically. Too dramatically, Ikuto thought.

"Amu doesn't like me as anything more than a friend," Ikuto stated. It had to be true, since when she had hugged Ikuto earlier she had said, "You're a good friend!" Which was an improvement since they used to be kind of enemies. So Ikuto should be happy.

"Yes she does, but you're just too dense to realize it," Utau said. Dense? Ikuto had never been called dense before, since he was not dense. Ikuto thought that would suit Amu more. She was the dense one.

"I'm not dense," Ikuto insisted. "And I'm not going to confess, so now I'll be going to bed."

"No, you will confess...or else the whole school might find out who 'Ikura' really is," Utau threatened, and Ikuto turned around and saw that she was actually serious.

"Utau, you wouldn't do that," Ikuto said. She couldn't, since most people wouldn't do something that mean to their own sibling. But Utau wasn't exactly like most people, so Ikuto thought she might do that.

"Yes, I would," Utau told him. "Unless...you confess to Amu tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You're only giving me one day? I can't do that," Ikuto said.

"Fine, two days later, then. You will confess to Amu on Monday," Utau said.

"Alright, whatever, can I go to bed now?" Ikuto inquired, and Utau nodded so he went upstairs to bed, and when he entered his bedroom he found his diary lying on the ground. He hadn't written it in a long time, but he didn't feel like it right now. But Ikuto remembered that Amu had read his diary - the last page he had written on. Ikuto dimly wondered what Amu had read, so he picked up his diary and sat down on his bed.

Ikuto flipped to the last page he had written on, and found the entry he had written on the day Amu left for her class trip. It read:

_Dear Journal,_

_I do not love Amu. I guess I kind of like her, but I don't LOVE her or anything. Sure, I enjoy teasing her and all, and I like her blush and when she smiles, though she never smiles at me. But I don't LOVE her or anything. I'm never going to LOVE anyone. Besides, I haven't even known Amu that long. I just want to get her to like me since I don't want her to hate me. And I didn't really do anything that bad to her, anyways. So why doesn't she like me? Anyways, I wrote this since it sounded earlier like I did LOVE her, and you probably thought that so I just wanted to explain to you that I don't. Oh great, now I'm talking to a journal. Or writing to one. I'm explaining stuff to a journal. I feel weird now, and I don't really have anything else to say, so I'm done._

_~Ikuto_

If Amu had liked him as more than a friend before like Utau thought (but Ikuto doubted it), she probably didn't like him like that anymore after reading this entry. Or maybe she still did...and would never admit it since she thought Ikuto didn't like her back. Ikuto couldn't help thinking that sounded kind of like a tragic love story, in a way. Ikuto now wished Amu hadn't read THAT entry out of all of them now. But that didn't matter, Ikuto realized, since in two days he would have to confess to her anyways and she would know that he did like her as more than a friend. Ikuto sighed; why did Utau have to do this to him? And why did he have to write in a diary? It was the diary's fault Amu thought he didn't like her as more than a friend...although, at least he hadn't written the opposite that he did love her, since if Amu read that it would be worse. It would be worse if she didn't feel the same way, since that would wreck their friendship that they now had.

"It's all your fault," Ikuto muttered to the diary anyways, before he realized he was talking to inanimate objects, like a crazy person. Ikuto put the diary on his bedside table, turned off the lights, and climbed into bed to go to sleep.

* * *

**(AMU POV)**

After Ikuto and Utau left, Tadase and I sat back down to finish our dinner. I guess Ikuto is officially my friend now that I said it. I don't know why I hugged him, though, I guess as a thank you for being a friend? Ikuto seemed surprised by it, too. Tadase and I were eating in silence, and it felt a bit awkward. I think I liked it better when we were just friends...no, it's better like this. But at least it wasn't awkward when we were friends and nothing more. I wonder if Tadase feels like this, too?

"So," I began, hoping to make the awkwardness go away.

"Yes, Hinamori-san?" Tadase smiled at me. His smiles always dazzled me and made me flush a little. I don't think I've seen Ikuto smile often, but I he did smile a little when I hugged him today, and his smile looked dazzling, too. Except Tadase's smile right now seemed a little too cheerful and forced, unlike Ikuto's. Wait, why am I comparing their smiles? That's kind of weird...

"Oh, you can call me Amu-chan now," I smiled back at him.

"Okay, Amu-chan," Tadase answered and then...the awkward silence came back. Why? We never had awkward silences when we were just friends, so why would we have them now that we're...dating? I guess I just feel like I have to be polite and all to Tadase, and I don't want to say anything...weird. When we were friends we were polite towards each other too, only I wasn't afraid of saying something wrong. I hope Tadase doesn't feel awkward, too. Or maybe first dates are always like this? I guess I wouldn't know, since I don't exactly have experience with this. I AM only an eighth grader! I'm not even in high school yet!

"Um, Tadase-kun?" I began, trying to fill in the silence. And I did want to ask him something anyways.

"Yes?" Tadase looked at me.

"Do you...uh," I paused, trying to think of a way to say this that didn't let him know I felt awkward, "do you like this silence?" That was a normal question, since he couldn't deny that it was really silent before.

"Well, it's okay," Tadase replied. "But I'd prefer talking, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," I agreed. So Tadase didn't like the too quiet-ness either. The rest of our date passed by pretty quickly, and after a while it was time to go home. Tadase and I walked back together (the Tsukiyomis' house is pretty close to the restaurant) until we reached a fork in the road where Tadase and I had to go seperate ways.

"Bye, Tadase-kun!" I waved as I walked away, and Tadase returned my "bye" and wave, smiling. While I walked back, I couldn't help wondering if this was the right thing, Tadase and I, as a couple. Don't get me wrong, he's really nice, but he's like a good friend, rather than a boyfriend. But I guess I should just give myself a while to get used to it, since it was only our first date. We've been dating for...what, a day? Actually, not even a whole day yet since the camping trip ended today and that's when we started dating, near the end of the trip.

I reached the Tsukiyomis' house and rang the doorbell, greeted by Utau, who must have been sitting in the hall at that time. It was kind of late already, so I decided to go to bed. I thought about what I was thinking earlier, and couldn't help wondering if maybe the "getting used to things" part wouldn't really happen. But I'm just being weird, since I would get used to dating Tadase soon, and things would go back to normal between us without the awkwardness, right?

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I made the date awkward. Since this is an Amuto story so I'm not supposed to make a date with Amu and Tadase be nice and fun and stuffles...yeah. This story will end soon! I think I said that before, but oh well. :) Please review if you feels like it! :DDD**


	22. The Doritos Are Gone!

~*CHAPTER 22*~

Ikuto spent Sunday being a couch potato and staying in the house the whole day. He felt a little bit worried, though. Ikuto was annoyed with Utau since it was her fault he was feeling worried, since Utau was the one who was blackmailing him to confess to Amu. And he couldn't help worrying a little about what he was going to say, or more importantly, what Amu was going to say in reply. He had actually had a nightmare about what would happen on Monday, and Ikuto could still remember it vividly now...

* * *

_"I'm back from school!" Amu announced to no one in particular (and there was no one downstairs, so maybe nobody even heard her) and went up to her room, where she set her bag down._

_Ikuto was home from school before she was, and he was the one person that had actually heard her come in. He had been waiting for her to come home, since he was going to confess now. He had waited until after school was over, but he couldn't wait any more. He had to get this over with._

_"Amu?" Ikuto stood in her room now._

_"Ikuto? What?" Amu asked, but not in a rude 'What do you want?' kind of way, just in a more nice 'Huh? What is it?' kind of way, if that makes sense. Ikuto still wasn't completely used to them being friends, but he had to admit it was a rather nice feeling._

_"Amu, there's something I need to tell you," Ikuto said in a serious tone. Amu had never heard him like that before, since he always spoke in a playful or just a normal tone, and she was a bit surprised to hear him sound so serious._

_"...Um, what?" Amu asked when he didn't continue._

_"I'll just say it," Ikuto began. "I love you, Amu."_

_…_

_Silence. Amu didn't respond, and she looked a lot surprised now, not just a little surprised like she was earlier about hearing him speak seriously. Finally, Amu managed to say, "Well, I don't feel the same way."_

_"Oh...alright, that's okay," Ikuto could tell he was failing to mask his disappointment, and he hoped Amu didn't notice. Well, now that he got that over with, Ikuto and Amu could just forget about the confession and go back to being friends like they were before, at least._

"But what if things will never be the same and your friendship will be destroyed?" _A little voice coming from...Ikuto's mind? Okay, a little voice coming from Ikuto's mind spoke. But Ikuto dismissed it, since a little confession wasn't a big deal, so things would go back to normal. Hopefully._

"It's useless to hope. You have no hope. Things will never go back to normal." T_he annoying voice returned. Ikuto couldn't help thinking that it was sounding a bit too dramatic. Was this really HIS "inner self" speaking? Well, inner self, that's not true! Or at least that's what Ikuto was thinking._

"Uh-oh. It's too late for you. Too late..." _The inner voice sounded too dramatic in a cheesy way that's in movies, if you get what that means. Ikuto decided to stop talking to himself and looked at Amu, and he couldn't help gasping a little when he saw what was in front of him. Amu had turned giant and was holding an equally giant axe above her head._

_"What's going on?" Ikuto demanded, and the giant Amu merely chuckled in an un-Amu-like way._

_"I decided that I hate you. Now prepare...to DIE!" Amu laughed evilly (which was also un-Amu-like) and crashed the axe down on Ikuto before he could even move. Ikuto felt a sharp stab of pain in his, well, everywhere, and then it all faded to black._

* * *

And that ended Ikuto's dream. Okay, so Ikuto knew that last part at the end with the giant, evil Amu and the axe wouldn't happen, or the voices in his head, but the rest of it seemed like it probably would. Ikuto would confess, Amu would say she doesn't feel the same way, the end. Ikuto sighed; what did he ever do to Utau?

Ikuto also spent some time on Sunday planning out what he was going to say. Should he say, "Amu, I've always had this huge crush on you. I love everything about you, from your smile to those pink flip-flops you wore yesterday. I think we were meant to be together, and I love you." ...Nah, that was way too...sappy. And kind of cheesy and cliché, too.

"Amu, I love you soso much and my heart ACHES for you every single day and - " No, too...dramatic and weird. Amu would probably burst out laughing at him or something.

He also considered telling Amu, "I like you, Amu, so will you go out with me?" But Ikuto dismissed that idea as well; it was too simple. What if Amu thought he didn't really mean it?

Finally, Ikuto decided on just going with "Amu, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now...I love you" and then waiting to see what she would say. To see if she would reply "I love you too" or say "I don't feel the same way".

Ikuto was relieved to have figured that out, though he also was kind of annoyed that he was spending so much time thinking about confessing to someone. He had spent AT LEAST twenty minutes thinking about just that! It shouldn't be that hard, so he really didn't have to spend that much time thinking about it. But with Amu, it was pretty hard (for him). Since she used to hate him and now they're just friends, that meant he could be wrecking their newly made friendship. Oh, and more importantly, she already had a boyfriend, and it seemed like she loved him, too.

Later on in the day, Ikuto watched TV, read a book, ate dinner, and did a bunch of other random stuff before bedtime. When it was 7:00, Ikuto decided that would be a kind of normal time to sleep at and went to bed. Ikuto collapsed onto his mattress and fell asleep quickly, dreading tomorrow and hoping he wouldn't do anything to embarrass himself.

* * *

The next morning, after getting ready for school and eating breakfast and all, Amu began her walk to school alone. She only began it alone because sometime later during her walk Tadase saw her and came over.

"Hi, Tadase-kun!" Amu waved.

"Hello," Tadase greeted her back, and the two of them continued walking to school together. "You know," Tadase began. "When I confessed I said that I really like you."

"Right..." Amu trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with that.

"But what I meant was..._I love you_," Tadase admitted.

"Oh," Amu tried to stop a blush from coming to her cheeks. Why did she blush so easily? "Me too!" Amu could tell she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Tadase, but she hoped he wouldn't notice.

"That's nice to know," Tadase smiled, and thankfully for Amu, he didn't seem like he noticed anything weird about Amu's "Me too!".

By then they had already reached the gates of their school, so they both went over to where Amu and her friends usually stood before school. Rima, Yaya, and Nagihiko were already there. Tadase and Nagihiko started talking about something boring (Amu could tell they were talking about some school thing, and it sounded boring to her, at least) and Yaya was going on about something to Amu and Rima.

"Amu-chi? You didn't answer my question!" Yaya whined. Except Amu didn't know what to say to her since she hadn't heard the question.

"Um, my answer is...yes," Amu hoped Yaya had asked a yes-or-no question.

"What?!" Yaya and Rima looked at Amu with surprised expressions on their faces. _Oh no_, Amu thought, _what if that wasn't a yes-or-no question?_

"I didn't think you'd admit it, Amu," Rima's surprised expression had gone away and now she looked at Yaya evilly, kind of like they had whenever Amu and Tadase were flirting (back when they were just friends) or that one time Ikuto was there with them and Amu and Ikuto were arguing about something. But Amu wouldn't call arguing the same thing as flirting. Actually, she wasn't flirting with Tadase before, either. They were just talking!

"Um...admit what?" Amu asked nervously, causing Rima and Yaya to give her disbelieving looks. "I'm very forgetful," Amu tried to explain.

When Yaya and Rima both realized Amu actually had no clue what the question was supposed to be, Yaya let out a long, deep sigh (kind of like the ones that stressed parents let out, which was weird for Yaya since she acted like a little kid without a care in the world! ...Not a stressed parent) before reminding Amu, "Yaya asked Amu-chi if she thought Utan's brother was hot, remember? And she said yes!"

"Oh," Amu said. Wait...Utan? That was Utau...her brother...Ikuto. Which meant... "Ehh? Did I just say...Ikuto is hot?!" Amu finally realized what she had said.

Now she wished she had just admitted that she was a bad listener and asked Yaya what the question was. But Amu thought she had asked a harmless question like "Did you finish your math homework?" Not something like...ugh. Before anyone could say anything else, though, the bell rang.

"Geez, Amu, you should pay more attention!" Rima said before walking off, and Amu caught up with her and started walking to their classroom.

* * *

School had ended and Ikuto had just gotten home, so he was going to eat some chips. On the part of the counter below the cabinet where the Doritos were, one of his mom's random magazines was lying open to a page. "Healthy Snack to Give Your Kids!" was the heading written at the top of the page. Ikuto wondered if that was where his mom always looked if she was making snacks. Yesterday Souko had forced him to eat broccoli...dipped in peanut butter! Maybe this magazine was to blame for that.

There was only one snack in this issue, which was crackers with peanut butter and banana. Why peanut butter again? Or maybe Souko thought of that broccoli/peanut butter snack on her own. The magazine said that it "Tastes good and is good for you!" but Ikuto had to disagree. Ew.

Ikuto closed the magazine and opened the cabinet to see a horrible sight. His Doritos...were _gone_. Now what would he eat? Ikuto opened the fridge, to find that it was almost completely empty. Almost. There were only three items left in there; there were crackers, peanut butter, and banana slices. Ikuto sighed. Another one of his mom's evil plots. Well, at least it was supposed to be good for him?

…

Ikuto had to admit, the crackers with peanut butter and banana slices didn't taste that bad. Well, not as bad as broccoli with peanut butter, at least, but that might just be because Ikuto hated broccoli. Unless it was in broccoli soup. He liked that.

Utau was already home before Ikuto, but where was Amu? Ikuto suddenly remembered he was supposed to confess to her. And he wanted to get it over with...it was already 4:00 p.m. now!

For the next hour, Ikuto watched TV, before he realized he should start his homework. So the hour after that Ikuto did his homework. It was 6:00 (well, 6:03, but same thing), and Amu still wasn't home yet. Ikuto wasn't the only one that was wondering where Amu was. since Utau had asked him if he knew, too. Amu's parents and Ikuto's parents all had to work late for some reason today, so they weren't home yet, and Ami was at her friend's house, so none of them knew Amu wasn't home now...or did they? Maybe Amu was at Ami's friend's house with her? Nah, probably not, Ikuto dismissed that idea.

After Ikuto and Utau ate dinner (their parents were still at work, and so were Amu's. And according to Utau, Ami was going to her friend's house for a sleepover, not just a play date. So it was just them at home), they were going to go to bed, when Ikuto thought of something horrific. What is something had happened to Amu? Maybe she got lost, or got hit by a car, or something?

"Utau, it's seven-thirty. Don't you think Amu should be home by now?" Ikuto inquired.

"She might just actually be somewhere like a friend's house like Ami, and she just didn't tell you," Utau pointed out. "But when I called her parents they said she should be home right now."

"Maybe she's still at school?" Ikuto tried his hardest to sound like he didn't care that much. But he couldn't help feeling a little worried.

"She told me she had to help with something in her classroom, and that she'd be home by 4:00," Utau told Ikuto. Ikuto couldn't help wondering why Utau hadn't told him any of that earlier.

"Wait, she said she'll be home by then...so if she's not, and her parent's don't know where she was either...oh, no. She should have looked both ways before crossing the road..." Ikuto said.

"Huh?" Utau looked at him confusedly.

"Well, I'm assuming she got hit by a car...but I guess probably not," Ikuto explained. "Well, should I go to her school and see if she's still there? Or just wait for her to come home? She probably just forgot to tell her parents that she's going somewhere."

"You should go check the school anyways. Run, Ikuto!" Utau insisted.

"She's probably safe anyways..." Ikuto rolled his eyes. "But I'll check. Call me if Amu comes home." With that, Ikuto pulled on his jacket and stuffed his cell phone in his pocket before slipping on his shoes and exiting the house.

Ikuto started walking in the direction of the school. Why did Utau have to get so worried? Amu was fine, most likely. Ikuto hoped she was, at least.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN. Okay, um...oh, this was a long chapter! Longer than my other ones, at least! It was almost 2,500 words without the author's note. :O ****I actually think peanut butter and banana slices on crackers tastes good, and I read it somewhere I think, maybe a few years ago. Well, a long time ago. I like it, Iunno about YOU...**

**GAH that part of the chapter was kinda random and I guess I could have just left it out or made Ikuto eat an apple or something instead (or maybe let him find his precious Doritos in the cabinet! :D). But w/e. Oh, and I guess in reply to a review sorta...well, someone said they're glad Tadase isn't evil in this YET, and, um, he's a good guy for the whole story! :D ****I just wanted to say that so you know...yeah, that's it. Must not make a looong author's note (or is this already long? Well, I don't think it is, but...). Please review! :)**


	23. Misunderstanding

~*CHAPTER 23*~

Ikuto walked quickly to the school, not bothering to look around on his way there. Ikuto hoped Amu was at school - because he didn't know what to do if she wasn't. Where else would she go? Could he just come home and tell Utau he had no idea where Amu was and that she'd probably show up tomorrow? Or maybe he could call her...but he didn't know her phone number. Ikuto was pretty sure Utau knew Amu's phone number, though. Maybe Utau called her and no one picked up or something.

_Or worse, what if Amu and Utau were planning an evil trick on me? And Amu's parents were in on it too?_ Ikuto wondered as he reached the school gates. But he doubted that. Why would Amu's parents do that, anyways? And Utau had seemed sincerely worried about Amu earlier, anyways.

Ikuto walked past the gates of the school, and went all the way to Amu's classroom, which was, of course, locked. All the classrooms were locked, and there was no one in them. There was no one at school at all since it was late night. Ikuto checked his watch. It was just past 8:00. After walking around the whole school, Ikuto was disappointed to see that Amu wasn't anywhere to be found.

_Where could that kid be?_ Ikuto wondered irritably. He went back to the gates of the school to return home and tell Utau that he couldn't find Amu, when he noticed a figure under a tree from the corner of his eye.

Ikuto turned around to see someone - Amu - sitting on the ground leaning down against the tree trunk on the edge of the school grounds. He was far away, and it was getting darker now (it was probably almost nine by now, but Ikuto didn't bother checking his watch) so Ikuto couldn't make out whether Amu's eyes were open or closed. She wasn't moving, so he thought she could be asleep. When Ikuto approached her, he could tell that her eyes were closed, and that she was sound asleep, with a book in her lap. Ikuto laughed a little; Amu had obviously fell asleep while reading her book. And for a long time, too.

"Hey, Amu?" Ikuto nudged her shoulder, only to receive no response from Amu. Ikuto tried again, a little harder this time, and this time Amu slowly lifted her hand and slapped his cheek. She wasn't awake, though, Ikuto could tell.

"Ow, what was that for?" Ikuto inquired, and there was no reply again. Ikuto grabbed Amu's shoulders and shook her a little, and when that didn't work, he shouted in her ear, earning him another slap, this time on the ear.

Ikuto was thinking about whether or not he should lick her ear when suddenly, an acorn fell from the tree above them and landed right on Amu's head. Ikuto looked up to see a squirrel look at him with a haha-got-you face (that's what it looked like to Ikuto, anyways) before chattering its teeth as if it were laughing at them and then going away.

"Ow!" Amu opened her eyes and shook her head, sending the acorn lying. She looked next to her to see Ikuto sitting, his tongue dangerously close to her ear (Ikuto had just made up his mind to lick her ear and face the consequences when she woke up). "I-Ikuto?"

"What?" Ikuto asked, turning away slightly.

"Were...were you going to lick my ear?!" Amu inquired, the shock evident in her voice.

"Well, yeah, because you weren't waking up - " Ikuto began, but stopped when Amu raised her book and threw it at him. He ducked and narrowly missed getting his head sliced off (or probably just a little hurt) by Amu's book. "Sheesh, are you always this cranky after waking up?" Ikuto muttered, but Amu didn't hear him.

Amu got up and retrieved her book before sitting back down at her spot beside Ikuto. "Hey...it's night already? I thought the book club meeting just ended ten minutes ago..."

"Hold up, Amu, tell me what happened from after school to before you fell asleep," Ikuto said.

"Well, after school Manami - a girl in my class - asked me if I wanted to go to book club with her since this was 'bring your friends to book club' day, and they were having a picnic outside. So I agreed, and then after it ended, I was going to finish this book since I only had thirty pages left. I was reading it and I guess...I just fell asleep then," Amu finished sheepishly. Then she seemed to realize something, and added, "If it's already night and I didn't come home yet...what would my parents think? I told them I'd be back around four o'clock, and it's way past that now! Maybe they thought - "

Before Ikuto could find out what Amu's parents might have thought, he interrupted, "Your parents are working late and they'll probably be back after twelve o'clock. They probably think you're at home right now."

"Oh," Amu said.

Ikuto was going to get up and walk back home with Amu when he remembered that he was supposed to confess to her - today. Maybe since Amu was gone for most of the day she'd let it go? But knowing Utau, probably not. And Ikuto didn't want everyone to know he dressed as a girl ("Ikura") before! Ikuto still remembered the words he was planning to say: Amu, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now...I love you. Ikuto was about to get it over with and say just that when he thought of something. What if Amu just laughed in his face at his confession? Maybe he should say something that wasn't sappy at all, so it couldn't be embarrassing.

After a minute of thinking, Ikuto decided to go with a "Amu, I like you, as more than a friend" and see what she would say. That wasn't that embarrassing at all, for a confession, and it still sounded sincere. Ikuto suddenly became aware that he and Amu were sitting in silence for a couple of minutes and decided to speak before Amu did. Ikuto wasn't pleased that he still felt VERY nervous about the whole confessing thing, but like he told himself before, he had to get it over with.

"Amu." Ikuto managed to capture Amu's attention as she looked up at him.

"What?" Amu asked.

"Amu, I like you. And as more than a friend," Ikuto confessed, ready to face whatever happened next. Amu just stared at him, wondering if he really meant it and thinking hard about what to say. Tadase or Ikuto? Amu wondered, since she did like Tadase, but her little crush on Ikuto hadn't fully gone away yet, and she knew that. Amu's mind wandered to what had happened on the way to school today, when she was talking to Tadase.

_"I love you,"_ Tadase had said that time. And Ikuto had said in his confession that he 'liked her as more than a friend', though it really was the same thing. But would Amu be better off with Tadase? He had the guts to tell her he loves her, and he was really sweet, too. And Amu was sure he loved her. But did Ikuto really mean what he said? Or was it some joke? Ikuto probably wouldn't joke like that, though, Amu decided.

_Beep._ Ikuto got a text on his phone, which was lying on the ground in between him and Amu. Not wanting to pick it up, Ikuto asked, "Hey, Amu, can you tell me who it's from?" Amu picked up the phone to see it was a text from Utau.

**…...**

**To: Ikuto Tsukiyomi**

**From: Utau Hoshina **

**Subject: (none)**

**Hey, Ikuto, are you gonna get back soon? Did you find Amu yet? Oh, and if you did, remember that you HAVE to confess to her today! Or else everyone will find out your secret... :P**

**…****...**

Amu couldn't believe it. The only reason Ikuto had confessed to her was because "everyone" would find out some secret he had. Utau had blackmailed him. And even worse, he didn't mean his confession at all.

"It's from Utau," Amu stated emotionlessly.

"What did it say?" Ikuto questioned.

"Read it yourself," Amu replied rather coldly before setting the phone on the ground. How could Ikuto do this to her? And she had thought they were friends now.

Feeling tears start to form in her eyes, Amu said hastily, "And about what you said...I don't feel the same way." With that, Amu got up and walked away back towards home, not wanting Ikuto to see her cry, and leaving a confused Ikuto behind. It was silly to cry over something this small, Amu thought, but she felt hurt by it. She had almost believed that he really, truly liked her as more than a friend. What a lie.

* * *

**A/N: THE END. ….Just kidding! Haha, I totally scared ya there...maybe. I said pretty much the same thing before in an author's note, in the chapter where Tadase confessed, but whatevs. :) I'm updating fast! Yay! For some reason I keep on updating around six to seven at night. (It's barely past six right now.) I guess that is when I finish my chapters. And I think I kinda sorta ended this on a cliffhanger, if this counts as one. I dunno. :P Review? :D**


	24. Do-Over

~*CHAPTER 24*~

Ikuto was really confused when Amu left him at the school. She was fine until she read the text. Wondering how bad whatever Utau wrote could be, Ikuto looked at the screen of his phone and saw the text. Utau had basically written something along the lines of "I'm blackmailing you with a secret of yours to confess to Amu". Which basically said that...he lied about liking Amu and only said it so his secret wouldn't be revealed.

It was mostly Utau's fault for sending the text, and Ikuto knew he couldn't let anyone other than Utau and Kukai know about when he dressed as "Ikura". But despite the fact that it was Utau's fault, Ikuto still felt guilty. Amu would hate him if she found out Ikura was just him, anyways. But Ikuto should have just read the text himself. It was his fault she saw it, and he could have chased after Amu and told her the truth, but he also didn't do that. After a while (maybe five-ish minutes) Ikuto decided to go back home. Maybe he could explain to Amu later...if she would listen to him.

* * *

Amu managed to hold in the tears until she got home, where Utau opened the door for her. Amu was planning to just push past Utau to her room without looking at her so Utau wouldn't be able to tell that she was sad, but Utau blocked her way.

"Amu? What's wrong? You look like you're about to cry." So Utau had noticed she was sad.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Amu replied, not wanting to worry Utau over nothing. And not wanting Utau to know why she was upset, too, of course, or else she'd know that Amu actually did like Ikuto. Although, Amu did feel grateful for Utau, since she knew that Utau thought she and Ikuto liked each other (which obviously wasn't true now) and Utau had threatened Ikuto into confessing so they would find out the others' feelings. Which was nice, in a way. (Not the threatening part, but the trying to bring them together part.)

"No, you're not," Utau grabbed Amu's hand and led her over to the sofa (Utau had a really strong grip, Amu noted). "So, are you going to tell me what's up?"

Amu didn't reply, trying to force the tears back into her eyes (if that was even possible). Amu was afraid if she talked, the tears might overflow. Utau waited in silence, but when she realized Amu wasn't going to answer, she suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Did - did Ikuto say anything to you?" Utau asked excitedly, the excitement vanishing when she saw Amu's not happy expression.

"Yeah, he said that he likes me, as more than a friend," Amu swallowed the lump in her throat and answered, trying to sound happy, or at least, not sad. She didn't want to burden Utau just because she felt a little sad that the guy she liked didn't like her.

_I just admitted to myself that I like Ikuto_, Amu realized. But it didn't matter now, since there was no point in denying it. She did like - love - Ikuto, as much as she didn't want it to be true. Why did she have to fall for the one guy that didn't like her? Pretty much anyone else at school - actually everyone in her grade, at least - would want to go out with her. Except for Nagihiko, who was just a friend. But everyone else, including Tadase, would want to. But Amu didn't love any of them, not even Tadase, as more than a friend.

"...what did you say?" Utau questioned, knowing what Amu's answer would be.

"I said I didn't like him in that way, so he wouldn't feel bad," Amu told her truthfully.

"You think he'd feel bad if you said that you felt the same way?" Utau inquired, and Amu wouldn't blame her for being confused.

"Yeah, since he was obviously _forced_ to confess to me," Amu said. Utau looked shocked for a moment, before she realized that Amu had found out what she had done.

"He does have a crush on you, but...I forced him to confess because he didn't have the guts to. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have sent that text," Utau sighed. "Or maybe I shouldn't have blackmailed him, but don't tell Ikuto I said that."

"No," Amu shook her head furiously like a...head-shaking-thing. A bobblehead! Like that, but she was shaking her head instead of nodding. "If it weren't for your blackmailing, Ikuto never would have confessed and we'd be at the most friends, for the rest of our lives."

"But now you're enemies, and that's worse," Utau pointed out.

"We're not enemies...I hope. I don't hate him or anything, but he probably hates me now..." Amu trailed off.

"He can't hate you; all you did was say that you didn't love him," Utau said.

"I didn't say it very nicely," Amu answered. Utau was about to say something when she was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Ikuto was here, so Utau got up to get the door, and Amu hastily ran up the stairs, not wanting to face Ikuto. Well, at least she wasn't on the verge of crying anymore.

When Utau opened the door, she was met by an Ikuto who didn't look that happy, kind of like Amu did when she came in. Except Amu had looked more sad, and Ikuto seemed more guilty at himself. At least, that's what he looked like to Utau. Hopefully, Utau would make him feel a little better like she had Amu. Maybe there was still time to get them together tonight, Utau thought.

It was...Utau checked the time to find it was nearing 9:00. And her parents had called to say that they were coming home early at 11:00 (which wasn't exactly early, but it was earlier than they were planning to), so Utau only had two hours. Two hours, to get Amu and Ikuto to find out that the other liked them. That was a lot of time. First, Utau needed to get them out of the house, just in case anyone came home earlier than said.

Utau let Ikuto go to his room, and ran into Amu's room. When Amu saw her, she looked at Utau with a curious expression, so Utau explained, "You need to get to the school. Now."

"Eh? Why?" Amu asked, clearly still confused.

"If you ever want a chance with Ikuto, you have to!" Utau insisted, hoping Amu would listen to her this time. Amu hesitated, then nodded her head before leaving to the gates of the school. Amu still wasn't sure if Utau was right about the whole Ikuto-loving-her thing but she hoped it was true, at least.

Next Utau went to Ikuto's room. She knew Ikuto might be harder to get to the school than Amu, but she had to try.

"Ikuto? I need you to go to the school," Utau called as she walked in.

"Why? Did someone else run off there?" Ikuto questioned sarcastically.

"You know that the real reason Amu lied about not liking you was because of that text I sent, right?" Utau queried. "And I know you think Amu hates you now, but she doesn't."

"How would you know that?" Ikuto challenged.

"Because," Utau said, "I talked to her. I explained it all. Now, do you want to go to the school or not?"

"Fine," Ikuto gave in, for once. "But if you're lying about this, Utau, I'll - "

"I'm not," Utau promised, cutting off the rest of his threat.

Ikuto sighed and got up from his bed before exiting his room and walking off in the direction of the school, or more like running. He didn't want to keep Amu waiting long (if she really was there). When Ikuto neared the school, he slowed down and walked to the tree where Amu was waiting. She was already standing there, with her book in her hand (Ikuto guessed she must have left it there before).

When Ikuto approached Amu, she didn't say anything to him. After a full minute of silence, Ikuto finally said softly, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Amu shifted her gaze to look at him, seeming a little taken back.

"You heard me, I'm sorry. You probably really hate me right now, since it seems like I was lying to you about...what I said." Ikuto told her. "But I wasn't lying."

Ikuto waited for Amu to say something nervously. He noticed that it was like when he had come to the school to find Amu before. They were both standing under the same exact tree Amu had fallen asleep under earlier, Amu's book was still on the ground, and Ikuto had kind of confessed again by saying that he wasn't lying before. Only this time, Ikuto wanted it to end up differently. It was like...a do-over.

"I don't hate you," Amu assured him. "I don't think I ever hated you before...not that much, at least."

"Not that much," Ikuto echoed, a slight smile on his face. He was relieved Amu accepted his apology and was speaking to him normally. It was like they were back to being friends again. Maybe they were. Friends, and nothing more. Ikuto wasn't too pleased with that idea, though.

"I was a bit surprised that someone like you would ever apologize, though," Amu admitted. She had said it to tease him, but she was being honest when she said it. She didn't think Ikuto would come and do that.

"If I really have to apologize, I will," Ikuto shrugged. "But that's all I came to say." He turned, about to walk away, when a hand tugged on his shirt. Amu wasn't going to let him leave yet.

"You can't just leave," Amu insisted, shivering a little in the cold. She hadn't brought a jacket with her or anything. Ikuto hadn't either, and he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, but he didn't seem to feel cold at all, Amu noticed.

"And...why not?" Ikuto questioned.

"Because, we're not done yet," Amu told him.

"Done? What do you mean?" Ikuto asked, confused for real now. What were they not done with? After his confession, she said that she didn't like him. So that was done with, over.

"I never got a chance to tell you how I really felt," Amu explained.

"Uh-huh..." Ikuto trailed off, waiting for her to speak. When Amu didn't say anything for a long twenty-ish seconds, he grew a little impatient. "Are you going to tell me now?" Ikuto inquired.

"Um, me too," Amu finally answered.

"Me too? What's that supposed to mean?" Ikuto raised an eyebrow. Amu still seemed too shy to actually confess, he thought, which was weird since he had already told her he liked her.

"I love you, too!" Amu was almost shouting at him. She sighed, and pretended to be annoyed.

"Really..." Ikuto smiled (Amu thought it looked more like an evil smirk, though) slightly before leaning in so their faces were just a centimeter apart. Ikuto was about to close the gap with his lips when Amu pushed him away, her face bright red.

"Hey, what was that for?" Ikuto questioned. Why had she pushed him away at the last second? That didn't make sense.

"What was what for?" Amu pretended to be clueless.

"You pushed me away," Ikuto stated. "So...why?"

"You never said that you loved me," Amu said. "You just said you _liked_ me."

"Right," Ikuto rolled his eyes, but then said seriously, "I love you. Happy?"

"Yeah, I guess," Amu shrugged, and Ikuto laughed a little. "So, are you going to continue?"

"Continue?" Ikuto queried, before understanding what she meant. He leaned in closer again, and this time Amu didn't push him away. It was getting darker now, and the stars twinkled brightly above them in the night sky (How romantic, Amu couldn't help thinking) when Ikuto (finally) closed the gap between them and stayed like that for a moment before they both pulled away.

As Amu attempted to get the red on her cheeks to fade to pale pink (and failed at it), she said, "Ikuto? Maybe we should go home now."

"I thought you would want to spend more time with me here," Ikuto complained, and Amu's cheeks turned red again (she had managed to get them down to dark pink before he said that).

Except instead of saying something back at him or stomping away, this time Amu just laughed. Ikuto looked at her for a moment before laughing with her. For once, both of them weren't arguing (even after they became friends, they still argued a lot...except in a less mean/hateful way) or anything like that. They were both just enjoying being together right now. They weren't enemies, and they weren't even friends now; they were more than that.

_And you know_, Amu thought, _I like it this way_.

_~*The End*~_

* * *

**A/N: YAY I'm done! :) I'm going to put an epilogue, which I almost finished, but not yet, so I'll try to update that soon-ish...so I'm not exactly DONE with this story, I guess, but whatevs. ;) Thanks to everyone that reviewed/followed/favorited and also to the people that just read! You all make me happy! :D *hands out virtual cookies* Please review? :)**


	25. Epilogue

_~*Epilogue*~_

"Hi, Tadase-kun!" Amu waved to Tadase when she saw him standing near the gates of the school and came over to where he was standing.

"Hello, Hinamori-san," Tadase greeted her back. He had gone back to calling her Hinamori-san again after they stopped dating. "Did you do the math homework?"

"...What math homework?" Amu asked, then realized something. "Oh no! I forgot to do it! What do I do now?!"

"Don't worry, it's not due today," Tadase chuckled, and then said boy and Amu started talking about school and other things like they used to before they became a couple. They had gone back to being friends now after Amu started dating Ikuto (she told him about it, of course), and honestly, both of them liked it better that way. Being friends made it feel easier to talk to each other normally, for them.

A few minutes later, Yaya bounced up to Amu and Tadase, with Rima and Nagihiko trailing close behind. She looked even happier than usual today for some reason.

"Amu-chi! Tadase! Something really cool happened yesterday!" Yaya exclaimed.

"What is it?" Amu asked.

"At the end of Yaya's ballet class, everyone got lollipops!" Yaya informed her.

"What's the big deal, Yaya? You always eat lollipops," Rima voiced what everyone else was thinking, and Yaya sighed hugely (like she had when Amu didn't know what question she had asked a few days ago).

"These lollipops were the rainbow-flavored, big swirly ones. The kinds that Yaya doesn't have at home," Yaya explained. "So that was the awesome thing that happened yesterday!"

"Speaking of which," Ikuto seemed to appear out of nowhere with Kukai and Utau. "There was something else that happened yesterday, right Amu?" Amu looked clueless for a moment when she thought about it and realized what he meant. What else happened the day before that had to do with the two of them except...their confessions...that.

"Not really..." Amu mumbled, blushing a little.

"Then why is Amu-chi blushing?" Yaya inquired.

"Um," Amu began. "Hey, Rima, Nagi, Yaya! You never met Kukai before, right? A-and, Nagi's never met Utau before!"

"Okay," Nagihiko said when no one else spoke.

Amu realized they weren't going to introduce themselves or anything, so she said, "Kukai, Utau, go...talk to them."

"We can do that later," Kukai shrugged. "I want to hear what happened yesterday, too!"

"N-nothing!" Amu insisted. "If Ikuto thinks something happened, he can just say it himself, then," She added, glaring at him.

"Fine," Ikuto shrugged. "So Amu falls asleep for a long ti - "

"You don't need to tell them that," Amu interrupted him.

"And finally she confessed her undying love and- " Ikuto ignored her and continued talking, but Amu just interrupted him again.

"You confessed first!" Amu reminded him.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, so both of you confessed? And you're...you're a thing now? An item? A - " Kukai said, but Amu interrupted again. She was interrupting people a lot today.

"Er...no," Amu said. "We're just people."

"You know what he means," Rima spoke. "And I'm guessing you are?"

"Well...maybe," Amu admitted, and (of course) her friends all started squealing and freaking out and talking very excitedly. Just like they had when she told them that she was dating Tadase back on that trip to "Camp Fun". But Amu figured if she was in their position (like, if Nagihiko and Yaya started dating or something) she would also be like that. Maybe.

"What she means, is yes!" Ikuto said cheerfully (which was unlike him; he never sounded that cheerful) and hugged Amu tightly from behind. Which made Amu, of course, push his hands away and shout, "Pervert! D-don't come up behind people a-and...and _attack_ them!"

"How am I a pervert? Yaya always runs up from behind you and hugs you," Ikuto pointed out. "And I was standing right here, so it wasn't really a surprise like when she does it."

"Amu-chi likes it when Yaya hugs her!" Yaya defended herself.

"I bet she likes it more when _I_ hug her," Ikuto taunted.

"No, Amu-chi is Yaya's best friend! Not yours!" Yaya retorted. Which made everyone (except Yaya, of course) remember that Rima was like that about Amu, too, when Nagihiko got close to Amu. But now Yaya was getting possessive over her, too?

"I thought someone like you would be acting all protective like that too, right?" Nagihiko nudged Rima.

"Yeah," Utau agreed. She had kept quiet the entire time, which was really strange for Utau.

"Nah," Rima shrugged. "I actually like Amuto." When Amu responded, the group could have sworn all the students standing outside of the school (and probably the ones inside, too) could hear her shriek.

_"Amuto?!"_

* * *

When Amu got home from school, the first thing she did was go up to her room and open up her diary. Or, well, the first thing she did was put her bag down and find her glittery pink pen to write with and open her closet where she kept her diary - but whatever, those are almost the same thing.

She hadn't written in it in a while, so she decided to now. She flipped to the page where she had written in last. It was all the way back when she and Utau were "ponytailcuffed". Wow, that was...a long time ago. Amu flipped open to a new page, picked up her sparkly pink gel pen, and started to write.

_Dear Diary,_

_Um, so I haven't written in you for a loooong time, so there's a lot to write. Like, I went on a class trip, and accidentally took Ikuto's diary with me (so I COULDN'T write in you) and I dated Tadase and we had this awkward date and...um, other stuff, but I don't feel like writing about ALL that, so I'll tell you something that happened recently. Oh, um, so you know how I thought I DIDN'T have a crush on Ikuto? Well, I kinda did (do) and Ikuto also likes me and we started dating...I'll tell you the story._

_So yesterday, after school, I went with a classmate to Book Club (since it was Bring-your-friend-to-Book-Club Day) and somehow I fell asleep while reading for a really long time. When I woke up, it was late night already! Oh, yeah, I woke up because Ikuto woke me up. He had come to the school to see if I was still there, like he was worried about me! How sweet...so, anyways, he confessed his love for me (how sweet again) except stuff happened and things didn't turn out well...ugh, my hands hurt, I'll write about that later._

_We both went to the school to the same place where Ikuto found me sleeping last time, and then I told him I loved him back and we kissed. The end!_ _After that - - -_

"Ikuto? Have you been here the whole time?" Amu questioned angrily, feeling embarrassed. Very embarrassed. "You made me write a BIG line on my paper." She wondered how Ikuto got into her room without her noticing at all. And her door was closed, so she had to have heard it open when Ikuto came in.

"Yeah," Ikuto answered as if this was no big deal and he snooped on people and read their diaries without their permission all the time (He probably does, Amu thought).

"...Oh," Amu said, not sure what to reply to that. "Now stop reading my diary and leave!"

"You read a page of my diary, too," Ikuto reminded her. "So now we're even."

"But - " Amu began, then stopped. "Fine, go away."

"I don't wanna," Ikuto crossed his arms like a little kid. Amu tried to push him off of her bed (that's where they were sitting) but failed. "I just wanted to be with you, Amu. You don't have to be so mean about it!"

"NO, you are!" Amu insisted (she was acting like a little kid, too, not that she noticed). "I would be nice to you if you stop eavesdropping!"

"Eavesdropping?" Ikuto enquired.

"I mean...spying," Amu corrected herself. "But same thing, almost. Either way you're invading someone's privacy."

"Fine, I'll leave..." Ikuto sighed and got up sadly, looking at the ground and trying to act...sad.

"W-wait!" Amu stopped him, and Ikuto tried not to smile a little (he knew this would happen). "I guess, if you really want, you can stay."

"Really? Yay!" Ikuto hugged Amu tightly, and she struggled to break free.

"But," Amu spoke after she had escaped from Ikuto's hug, "No reading my diary, no hugging me, and...yeah, that's it."

"Okay, okay," Ikuto agreed. Except he didn't get to stay in Amu's room anyways because then his parents asked him to come down, and Amu too. So they came, wondering whatever Ikuto's parents would want.

"What?" Ikuto asked when no one said anything.

"Remember when you were all supposed to get punished after Amu's class trip?" Souko questioned.

"Because you broke into the neighbors' house," Aruto added. Ikuto and Amu remembered; that was when Amu and Utau's ponytails got handcuffed together! They had forgotten about that, but unfortunately their parents hadn't.

"And we - that includes your parents, Amu - have agreed on what will happen," Souko grinned evilly. _What is it?!_ Ikuto and Amu were anxious to know. Maybe they would be grounded...again? They'd have to vacuum the carpet? Do the dishes or laundry or something?

"You have to bake cupcakes together!" Souko announced. Amu and Ikuto stared at her in disbelief. That was supposed to be their punishment?

"And you have to give us all some, of course," Aruto said.

"You'll both get to wear frilly pink aprons," Souko spoke. Amu giggled a little, imagining Ikuto in a frilly apron, and he glared at her.

"Can't we just do laundry or somethi - " Ikuto began, but was cut off with a "No!" from his parents. Souko handed them both aprons, which they put on (Ikuto grumbling the whole time).

"Alright," Ikuto said after he and Amu got all the ingredients and supplies ready. There was a recipe book open in front of him showing how to bake cupcakes. He faced Amu, "So it says here that first we have to - why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just," Amu giggled. "You look so funny in an apron! It's all pink and has little frills and - " Amu burst into laughter again and Ikuto just stood there with an irritated expression on his face.

"Are you done?" Ikuto asked impatiently when Amu's laughter slowed.

"Uh...yeah," Amu stopped, to Ikuto's relief.

"So now we have to add two teaspoons of sugar," Ikuto said, and Amu picked up the container next to her and poured some in. "Stop, that's too much!"

"Well, then why didn't you tell me how much to put in?" Amu demanded.

"I did and...hold on, that wasn't sugar." Ikuto noticed.

"Then what was it? Salt?!"

"Yes. You poured salt in!"

"Salt? But it looks like sugar! See the label even says - oh."

"Yes, it says salt," Ikuto sighed. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

"You know, the cupcakes didn't taste that bad," Amu remarked, plopping down on the couch beside Ikuto.

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "Didn't taste that bad?"

"Okay, well, they tasted horrible, but at least we tried?" Amu offered.

"...Sure," Ikuto said, but Amu didn't hear him since she was too busy looking through pictures on her phone. Curious about what she was looking at, Ikuto leaned over to see. "Is that...?"

"Huh?" Amu blinked innocently, but Ikuto didn't fall for it. She had gotten a picture of him while he was baking cupcakes with her! Which meant she had gotten a picture of him in...the apron.

"Delete it." Ikuto glared at the phone, as if that would make the picture erase. But unfortunately for him, Amu just stuck her tongue out at him and shook her head no. Ikuto tried to grab the phone, but Amu held it out of his reach, stretching her arm out to the other side of her. Ikuto tried to grab her hand and succeeded, but ended up knocking Amu and himself down.

"Hey, why did you do that?" Amu queried, laying her phone down on the ground beside her. Ikuto had made himself and Amu fall off the sofa, so that Amu was on the ground with Ikuto on top of her, his hands and legs on either side of her.

Just then, Utau decided to come home (_She didn't have to bake cupcakes_, Ikuto thought dejectedly) and saw them both on the living room floor. "I'm not even going to ask," She said, and walked right past them. But not before snapping a picture on her phone, of course.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, that's it! Which means...this story is complete! I'm almost kinda sad that I don't get to update any more chapters, but not really since now it's finished and done and...I finished a story! That had more than one chapter! Well, I did that before, but still. Yay! XD Did any of you actually remember that they were supposed to get punished? It was back in chapter 12 or something that they said that...I wasn't sure, so I checked! :D Please review one last time?**


End file.
